Workflow

Certificate of Insurance Management

Certificates of insurance are one of the most frequent service requests agencies handle. Clients need COIs for contracts, leases, and vendor agreements — and the holders on those certificates expect timely updates when policies renew. Managing this manually creates a constant operational burden.

The Problem

Why certificate management is a challenge

A single commercial client may have dozens of certificate holders — landlords, general contractors, lenders, and business partners — each requiring proof of specific coverages. When policies renew or change, every affected certificate needs to be reissued. This creates a cascade of work that is easy to fall behind on.

  • No centralized list of certificate holders and their requirements per client
  • Manually creating each certificate from scratch using carrier portals or PDF tools
  • Forgetting to reissue certificates when policies renew, leading to compliance gaps
  • Certificate holders contacting the agency repeatedly to request updates
  • No tracking of which certificates have been sent and which are still pending
  • Additional insured and special endorsement requirements that vary by holder

The Solution

How Insurstein handles certificate management

Generate COIs from policy data, track certificate holders, and automatically flag reissuance when policies renew — all in one workflow.

COI Generation

Generate certificates of insurance from policy data already in the system. No manual data entry into separate certificate tools.

Certificate Holder Management

Maintain a list of certificate holders for each client. Track who requires proof of insurance and what specific requirements they have.

Renewal Reissuance

When a policy renews, Insurstein flags certificates that need to be reissued with updated policy information and effective dates.

Compliance Tracking

Track which certificate holders have received their updated certificates and which are still outstanding after a renewal or policy change.

Comparison

Manual certificate handling vs. automated management

Manual Process

  1. Receive a COI request via email or phone
  2. Look up the client's policy details in your AMS or carrier portal
  3. Manually fill out certificate fields in a PDF or carrier tool
  4. Add additional insured endorsement language if required
  5. Email the certificate to the holder
  6. When the policy renews, try to remember who needs updated certificates
  7. Repeat the entire process for each holder

Automated with Insurstein

  1. Certificate holders are stored on the client record with their requirements
  2. Generate a COI from policy data with the holder pre-filled
  3. On policy renewal, the system flags all certificates that need reissuance
  4. Updated certificates are generated with new effective dates and limits
  5. Track which certificates have been sent and which are pending
  6. All certificate activity is logged on the client record

Efficiency

Reducing the COI request burden

Certificate requests are among the highest-volume service tasks in a commercial lines agency. Each request interrupts other work and often involves the same steps repeated hundreds of times per month. Automating certificate generation and proactively reissuing on renewal reduces inbound requests and frees up your service team to focus on higher-value work.

When certificate holders receive updated certificates promptly after renewal — without having to ask — it also reflects well on your agency's professionalism and strengthens client relationships.

Buyer's Guide

What makes good COI management software

Certificate management tools vary widely. When evaluating COI management software, look for:

Certificate generation that pulls directly from your policy records — no retyping
A certificate holder database tied to each client with specific requirements per holder
Automatic flagging of certificates that need reissuance when policies renew or change
Tracking of certificate status — generated, sent, and acknowledged
Support for additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and other common endorsement notations
Integration with your agency management system so certificate activity appears in the client record

Streamline your
certificate workflow.

See how Insurstein manages certificate holders, generates COIs, and tracks reissuance on renewal.

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