Certificates of Insurance (COI)

In a recent Wednesday Wisdom, we discussed the importance of asking for a certificate of insurance when hiring someone to work on your home or property, but did you know that certificates can be “altered” or “fake” ?

Here are 5 tips for spotting a fraudulent certificate:
1) A certificate that has been clearly photo copied, is blurry, and may be difficult to read
2) Two or more different fonts are used in the data fields
3) Noticeable smudging
4) A certificate that omits contact information for the agent or producer of record
5) A certificate without a date of issuance noted at the top

Fraud Prevention for Contractors & Service Professionals:
When issuing your certificate, only distribute through your authorized insurance agent or carrier. Have the certificate sent directly from your insurance provider to the requesting party via email or physical mail. In addition to the business, insurer, and coverage detail, ensure the certificate is dated and the ‘Certificate Holder’ field is pre-filled with the name of the requestor. Never provide a certificate with a blank certificate holder field.

Fraud Prevention for Consumers:
Submit requests for certificates directly with a contractor’s or professional’s insurance agent, broker or insurance carrier, you can obtain this contact information from the contractor. If a certificate is provided directly by the company you are seeking to hire, rather than from their insurance provider, verify coverage and limits by contacting their insurance agent or broker noted on the COI directly.

This article provides generic information only, for specific coverage questions on your policy please contact your Bouvier Agent at 860.232.4491 or www.binsurance.com.