Am I Tracking COIs Correctly? – In-House Edition

Transcript

Here are 5 important questions to ask yourself about your in-house process to see if it is as efficient and effective as it can be.

1) Is keeping this process internal actually saving my company any money? Has your company experienced any claims?
In-house processes are not always as effective and often claims may arise and the proper documentation is not on hand to mitigate the risk. The cost of litigation and claims is only part of it, you also have to consider the salaries, benefits and time off of any employees you have working on this. Additionally, it’s not just the expense of the employees, but the expense of any software they may need.

2) Could our employees be using the time allocated to track and correct COI’s to complete other projects and do more work attributed to increasing our bottom line?
The certificate of insurance tracking process can be extremely tedious.Countless hours are spent on the phone talking to agents and clients and constantly doing follow ups for COIs, entering data and setting up reminders to check for renewals.

3) Do I know how compliant my current vendors are?On average, 7 out of 10 COIs sent in are non-compliant, either missing certain language or with deficient policy limits, etc. In-house processes can lack accuracy and often times this can be due to lack of time or lack of insurance know how.

4) Do we have employees who are knowledgeable and comfortable with insurance vernacular, certificates of insurance, and dealing with agents to correct deficiencies?
An In-house employee may not be an insurance expert or may not have a skill set as broad as an insurance tracking company will.

5) Will our current COI Tracking process be able to handle hundreds or even thousands of more vendors if our company grows?
When you have an in-house team and you want to scale up your business rapidly, you will probably need to hire new employees. However, this process can be a lengthy one, since you will have to interview and train your new hire.

In-houseCOI Tracking can be effective when managed correctly, but often times the process is only kept internal as a way to avoid spending money and the resources assigned to it are minimal. Take a long look atwhat your company is doing to make sure you are properly protected! Reach out to BCS with any questions regarding the COI tracking process and what we can do to help!

Adam Lopez