How efficiently are you tracking Certificates of Insurance? Recent Deloitte research revealed that business leaders’ interest in implementing an intelligent risk management system is on the rise. According to the survey, 53% want better access to risk metrics and reporting.
However, almost as many reported that their current processes are broken, and fixing these systems is key to successfully adding new technology within their organizations.
Streamline your insurance tracking: 3 tips
Here are some tips to consider as you evaluate your current vendor insurance tracking processes.
1. Develop a consistent approach
You might be surprised by how many organizations don’t have a documented process for onboarding new business vendors and verifying that their insurance meets the agreed-upon requirements.
And verification isn’t a one-time thing that happens during onboarding. You should be reverifying the policies every year: One study showed that nearly 10% of previously-compliant vendors no longer met requirements when reverified.
It’s not enough to collect Certificates of Insurance from your vendors or subcontractors and file them away in a cabinet. If the COI does not reflect your company’s specific insurance requirements - or if it’s fraudulent – it won’t do you any good sitting in that folder. You must verify the COI is compliant by examining the coverage details.
If you’re managing multiple vendors, you likely have some sort of process in place. But is it documented – or does it live in the mind of one person who could leave the organization at any moment? If your company grows, is your process scalable?
2. Regularly examine your vendor insurance requirements
When was the last time your company leadership took a good look at the specifics you require of your vendors’ insurance policies? At HoundDog, many of our clients have discovered during the onboarding process that they weren’t even enforcing all the requirements listed in their vendor agreement.
Most businesses don’t need a laundry list of complicated insurance requirements for their vendors. General liability, workers’ compensation, auto, and an umbrella policy are often sufficient.
If your requirements have changed in practice, it’s time to tidy up your vendor agreement and insurance verification process to ensure everything is consistent across the board.
3. Use technology to automate your process
Sound like a lot of work? If documenting your processes and evaluating your requirements is more than you have time for, technology can help.
Once you’ve improved your current system, your next step is to find efficiencies. For many organizations, manually tracking insurance documentation in-house is a headache even with the best processes in place. That’s where HoundDog’s COI tracking technology can help.
We used decades of insurance industry experience to develop HoundDog, a simple platform that automates Certificate of Insurance verification and tracking. We work directly with your vendors to verify they have the coverage they need, so you can move forward, knowing your business is protected.
>> Want to see it in action? We’ll show you in a 20-minute demo. Schedule yours now.
