For those that are in compliance, the insurance world is a LOT to understand—and it’s changing constantly. If we were to ask you to take an insurance exam now that reviews all of the key terms and phrases, what they mean, and how they should be applied to your compliance tracking for contractors and third party vendors, would you pass?
Of course that seems completely crazy that you would be required to pass an insurance exam. After all, you aren’t an insurance agent and you’re likely not paid like an insurance expert is paid, either.
However, in your important role as a compliance administrator, you are exposed to a significant amount of insurance terms and lingo that you may not be familiar with—even if those terms are critical to your process. You know you need to check for certain compliance measures and check boxes, but beyond that, how much do you really need to know?
It’s Impossible To Know It All
Do you know the exact differences between the types of endorsements and what each term means? How about what each check box and line means on the certificate of insurance? Do you understand worker’s comp policies inside and out? How about the specific laws for the state that you’re in, versus the states where some of your contractors and vendors may be? It’s unlikely that you do, and it’s almost impossible to stay on top of all of the terms and changes that happen on a regular basis in the insurance world.
The world of insurance is constantly changing, especially when a ruling is made on a case that can change the way insurance is perceived. And not only that, there are over 1,000 types of endorsements available for any number of specific scenarios. As case law changes and precedents are set, insurance carriers make adjustments to endorsements and requirements, meaning that unless compliance staff members are constantly researching and staying up to date on law, then you may overlook an important piece of information if you aren’t spending enough time reviewing each document.
As we noted in an earlier post, according to a recent article in International Risk Management Institute, Inc. entitled The Scope of “Ongoing Operations” Additional Insured Endorsements: Broader than Expected, author Steven Rawls explains the complexity:
“Additional insured endorsements come in all shapes and sizes. Some cover the sole negligence of the additional insured. Others cover the additional insured only for the named insured’s negligent acts. Still others cover particular projects or a particular activity. In every case, the language of the endorsement and the jurisdiction’s interpretation of that language governs the scope of the coverage provided.”
Chances are, you deal with more than insurance and certificate tracking, so streamlining processes is important to you so you can do your job more efficiently, and more effectively without worrying you are overlooking something that could significantly harm the organization or at the very least, cost a lot of money.
Protect Yourself & Your Organization
You do your job the best that you can do each day, but in the world of insurance, there’s so much that’s behind the curtain, such as exclusions, endorsements and those items that, if you and the rest of your organization’s compliance staff aren’t careful to review or know what to look for and why, can put your organization at incredible risk.
Unfortunately, certificates of insurance and endorsements aren’t usually black and white, but rather contain many gray areas where having an expert on hand to help review and ensure everything is in order can be tremendously helpful—and can help to avoid costly litigation. These insurance experts, like those at myCOI, know all of the nitty gritty details, state laws, and so much more that will help guide you through the process of certificate of insurance tracking to take that heavy burden off your shoulders and give you some much needed peace of mind throughout the compliance process.
The Power of An Insurance Tracking Services Partner
Insurance tracking services like myCOI exists for one reason: to help you handle the everyday tasks of managing certificates of insurance and protecting your company against underinsured claims, costly litigation and failed audits so you don’t have to be the insurance expert. The software is an easy-to-use, cloud-based solution developed and supported by a team of insurance professionals and is built on a foundation of insurance industry logic to automate the certificate of insurance communication process and ensure you remain protected.
