I have provided a Certificate of Insurance from my agent, why do I need to go through a verification process? The standard Certificate of Liability Insurance is simply a verification of coverages; without additional reference and contractual solidification a certificate CAN NOT provide coverages to the Certificate Holder or Named Additionally Insured. In the area titled “Coverages” on the Acord 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance the following statement appears: THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE POLICIES OF INSURANCE LISTED BELOW HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO THE INSURED NAMED ABOVE FOR THE POLICY PERIOD INDICATED. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY REQUIREMENT, TERM OR CONDITION OF ANY CONTRACT OR OTHER DOCUMENT WITH RESPECT TO WHICH THIS CERTIFICATE MAY BE ISSUED OR MAY PERTAIN, THE INSURANCE AFFORDED BY THE POLICIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IS SUBJECT TO ALL THE TERMS. EXCLUSIONS AND CONDITIONS OF SUCH POLICIES. LIMITS SHOWN MAY HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY PAID CLAIMS. Simply put, without proper wording on the certificate, proper written agreements between the parties you are doing business with and proper endorsements attached. The coverages on the certificate can be worthless to you and the additional insured parties. This will cost you money and the clients you work for money, in the event of a claim. How long should the Certificate of Insurance verification process take to complete? Most certificates are verified and compliance status is updated within 72 hours. On rare occasions a vetting process could take longer depending on your company’s risk category, your agent’s understanding of coverages necessary and policy limits. If I find that I am Non-Compliant what steps should I take to become Compliant? Simple Non-Compliance for policy renewals or coverage limits can usually be resolved by contacting your agent and having them send updated certificates. Complex Non-Compliance for coverages and contractual issues may require a new policy or additions to an existing policy. If this type of Non-Compliance issue arises, we will have a Compliance Coordinator work with you and your agent to find a solution. If a solution cannot be forged, then we will consider recommending alternate sources for insurance coverage. If no solution is available and your company can no longer perform services for the management company, you registered with, you will be considered for...
Read MoreThis article is a response to a real Vendor Question. Q: I don't understand why we have to pay for every individual Company we do work for that uses you. We shouldn't have to pay to do work for someone. That just doesn't make any sense to me. A: Simply put, without proper wording on the certificate, proper written agreements between the parties you are doing business with and proper endorsements attached, the coverages on the certificate would be worthless to Management Companies and the Associations. Each Management Company has different requirements and each Management Company, and their Associations are vetted independently. We only group them together at the Service Provider level for ease of access. Subsequently, Service Providers are not paying to do work for a Management Company, you are paying to have your Company and your Certificates “Certified” that you have the proper coverage limits and documents and meet the requirements set by the Management Company for all the managed Associations. Additionally, as a service, ASN lists you on a Management Company Vendor Directory and reports your Compliant / Non-Compliant status to the Management Company so that the managers and staff can utilize your services and present you to their boards with confidence. It allows your company an informational advantage and for managers to take advantage of actionable data. A basic management company membership requires a $99 fee that certifies you to work on any of their Associations. If you break this down into a realistic view, that is less than $8.26 a month and if you divide this by the access you have to managers and staff across the entire network it is usually less than 3 or 4 cents per day. There’s no other marketing strategy that will deliver this kind of visibility to HOA’s and Managers in this industry. Last, and probably best, everyone else is going through the same process. This means that you are no longer bidding against unlicensed, underinsured competitors for jobs. You can have confidence, that those you are bidding against, have the same requirements you do....
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