For years, insurance compliance has been viewed as a necessary administrative task. Collect the Certificates of Insurance (COIs), track expiration dates, file the documents away, and hope everything is in order if a claim or audit ever occurs.

For many organizations, Certificate of Insurance (COI) compliance begins with collecting a document and making sure it stays current. A certificate is requested, the expiration date is tracked, and the document is filed until renewal. That process is important, but it is only the beginning.

A subcontract requires $2 million in general liability coverage, with your company named as additional insured. The sub sends over a certificate. It's current, it's signed, it's filed. Everyone moves on. The certificate showed $1 million in coverage, and your company was never added as additional insured. Nobody caught it, because nobody read the certificate against what the subcontract actually required. It went in the folder marked compliant. Then a claim comes in at $1.4 million. The sub's policy pays its limit and stops. You aren't named on the policy, so the sub's carrier has no duty to defend you. The rest is yours, plus your own legal bill. The certificate never expired. It was wrong from the day it arrived.