What Is Insurance Tracking? A Beginner’s Guide

COI Management | February 28, 2022

COI (Certificate of Insurance) management is critical if you want to ensure that your contractors comply with the policies and requirements of your organization. But, what is insurance tracking? 
A COI is a document that contains basic details about your contractors’ commercial insurance policies. Collecting a COI is a way to verify that your organization’s contractors and vendors have active insurance policies and that the coverage is adequate for the kind of work that they will be performing. 

Having these insurance policies on-hand is one of the primary ways that an organization can protect against unknown risks. For example, if your organization utilizes a contractor network and your contractor is involved in an accident of some kind that is their fault, the contractor should be responsible for any financial liabilities from that accident. If your contractor does not have active insurance and is unable to pay or they do not have enough coverage, your organization may bear the burden. 
So, how can you verify that your contractor has active insurance and is adequately insured? Insurance tracking, or COI management, is the solution. What is insurance tracking? We’re glad you asked. 

What Is Insurance Tracking? A Simple Explanation

At its most basic, insurance tracking is made up of the following steps:

1. Requesting and receiving a COI from your contractor before any work begins.
2. Checking that the COI shows sufficient requirements. 
   1. If it does not, you would request that your contractor increase their insurance coverage.
   2. If your contractor does not want to increase their coverage, you would need to determine whether your organization will provide work to them or not. 
3. Managing any cancellation between policy renewal periods.
4. Asking for a renewal COI before the date that the contractor’s current policy expires. 
5. Rechecking the COI to ensure that it’s in compliance with your organization’s requirements.

What are the Goals of COI Tracking?

Simply having a contractor’s COI on file at your organization is not enough to guarantee that the contractor has current or sufficient insurance coverage. 
It is possible for a contractor to have an active policy at the time the COI is created, but then the policy is canceled due to non-payment, or if the contractor’s company is trying to save money or a number of other reasons. This is one of the things that COI tracking guards against. 
The ultimate goals of COI tracking are to:

• Minimize how many policies in your contractor network are expired or inactive.
• Ensure that your contractors’ insurance is sufficient for your organization.

What is Insurance Tracking? Let The Professionals at PlusOne Solutions Handle It For You

The summary of insurance tracking in this blog is highly simplified, and anyone who has been involved in any kind of COI management knows the amount of time, effort, and knowledge needed to meet compliance goals is a full-time job. Our professional COI management solution offers your organization:

• Reduced exposure to underinsured and uninsured contractors and vendors 
• A streamlined COI management process
• Reduced costs related to administrative work, insurance, and claims
• Better compliance rates across your network

Let us help you change the way that your organization manages COIs. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you. 
Contents are provided for information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Users are reminded to seek legal counsel with respect to their obligations and use of PlusOne Solutions services.
About PlusOne Solutions
PlusOne Solutions has been an industry leader in the risk management field by specializing in compliance programs that meet the complex challenges of geographically dispersed contractors, vendors, and employee networks. PlusOne Solutions protects companies from possible financial, legal, and reputational risks associated with contractor and vendor relationships while creating safer work environments. To learn more, visit https://www.PlusOneSolutions.net.