INFORMATION for INSURERS
Ø Agents’ time savings allows more time to sell and service your policies
Ø Compliance checking promotes broader coverage and higher limits, which means better protection for Insureds and more premium dollars per account.
Ø Expiration lists for both Certificate Holders and Agents helps avoid missed expirations
Ø You may advertise on Ins-Cert.com, which will be seen every time a Certificate Holder, (often the same person buying insurance for his/her firm), views a certificate
Ø Hot-Links to Insurer web sites help steer potential customers to learn more about your company
Ø A. M. Best & Company rating is shown in the ‘pop-up’ Insurer window – additional information may be entered in that window to draw Certificate Holders to ask for a quote from your company
Ø Your Agents will no longer avoid sending notices of cancellation, because the system does it for the Agent, ... free of charge. It also sends reinstatement and expiration E-Mail notices.
Ø You can block an Agency from being able to certify that your company is the Insurer for any coverage, in the event of unfriendly separation or suspicion of fraudulent certificates.
Ins-Cert.com gives you, the Insurer, more control over the certificate process, without your having to receive and review thousands of paper certificates. You can prevent any Agent from issuinge fraudulent certificates using your company name(s), and you will be able to spot-check any certificates where your company is shown as “Insurer.” Your company has a new venue for advertising directly to the insurance people in Certificate Holder companies, and your logo on the home page will be seen every time a Certificate Holder or Agent logs onto the site.
How to Use Ins-Cert.com
1) First, a contact person from your company must register for your company, (there is a one-time $250 fee).
2) From the Home Page, click on “Register” on the next page, click on “Insurer,” then enter the first few letters of your company name, select your company, and enter the company code which was mailed to you in December. If you do not have it, click on wrh@ins-cert.com and request your registration code. If your only e-mail address personal, please fax a request on your letterhead to (303) 744-1513.
3) Next, complete or update the information about your company, and enter a User Name and Password.
4) To view certificates issued by your agents, or block/unblock agents from using your company name on certificates, logon from the Home Page with your User Name and Password and follow the directions.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is it not on an ACORD® form?
Several Reasons: (1) The ACORD® form can only be issued by one agent, and the Ins-Cert.com certificate shows all the Insured’s coverages on a single form, regardless of how many different agents are used. (2) The ACORD® form only has room for the more common coverages, and requires a separate form for Property & Marine insurance. Ins-Cert.com
puts them all together. (3) There are several options that are often requested, (Additional Insured, Waiver of Subrogation, Primary & Non-Contributory), which must be entered in the comments area of an ACORD® certificate – we wanted to make them ‘check-offs’ that are easily found by the certificate holder.
2. Is the Ins-Cert.com certificate legal?
Certificates are not legal documents because the certificate holder does not pay for any rights or coverage. You or your agents issue certificates as a courtesy to your Insureds. Ins-Cert.com does, however, contractually require all agents to promptly enter accurate information, and the responsible agent’s actual signature appears on each coverage, to contact if there are questions.
3. Can the certificate be printed?
Yes, you can print the certificates directly from Ins-Cert.com, using your web browser “PRINT” button, but there is no need to, because the certificate may be viewed any time, as of any effective date.
4. Can our auditors view certificates of our Insureds’ subcontractors?
Yes, as long as they logon as your Insured, (Certificate Holder with respect to the subcontractor), they can view all certificates from all subcontractors, as of whatever dates are appropriate.
5. Can I get a certificate showing policies in effect as of a prior date?
Ins-Cert.com defaults to the current date, but allows you to enter a different date, and shows the policies in force on the date you enter.
6. Will this help our agents avoid missing renewals?
Yes! – the agent’s ‘Control Page,’ from which they navigate to the data entry screens, is actually a list of all insureds in the system, showing the expiration date of each coverage for each Insured.
7. What is the Expiration Report?
The Expiration Report is a summary of all certificates viewed by the Certificate Holder, showing the expiration date of each coverage, for each Insured. This allows them to see which policies are coming due for renewal soon, so they can check back to be sure they were renewed.
8. What is the Compliance Report?
The Compliance Report is for those Certificate Holders who do not have the time, expertise, (or inclination), to evaluate entire certificates. This report compares the Holder’s own minimum insurance requirements with the coverages on each certificate viewed, showing each coverage as: “OK,” if the coverage is in force and meets the requirements or “LOW,” if it is in force but does not meet the requirements. It shows: “EXP” if the coverage has expired, or “CNX,” if it was cancelled before expiration.
9. Can we view other Insurer’s Certificates, and other Insurers view ours?
No, you will only be able to see coverages for which you are the Insurer. However, your auditor may use your Insured’s logon to check subcontractor certificates, as the Certificate Holder, (your Insured, but Holder with respect to the subcontractors).
10. Is the information secure?
Both an Access Code and Password are required to view a certificate, and the software contains special proprietary security measures to help prevent break-ins, but no software is immune from expert hackers. Insurance information is not especially sensitive, like bank records or credit cards, and insurance policy limits are confidential unless a court requires disclosure in a lawsuit.
11. What does it cost?
Ins-Cert.com is a WIN-WIN solution for everyone. Each Insurers is charged a $250 Registration fee, and your Agents will pay a small fee for using Ins-Cert.com, but postage alone is more than their cost for each viewing of certificate data on-line. This system was created by an Agent to help all agents with this paperwork nightmare, but it also helps Certificate Holders manage their risk, and helps you, as an Insurer, manage your Agents’ certification process.
If you have any other questions, please contact us at wrh@ins-cert.com.