Historically, Certificates of Insurance (COIs) have been the means most often used to provide proof of insurance coverage. A COI is a noncontractual document that provides a snapshot that an insurance policy exists at the time the certificate was issued with limits shown being those that existed when the policy was issued.

While COIs are not complete representations of policy coverages or conclusive evidence that the coverage provided meets contract specifications, they potentially provide benefits to all parties. However, they also have deficiencies that must be considered.

This course provides an in-depth examination of the purpose, value, and caveats of COIs, along with issues that often arise from contracts, insurance certification requests, and the issuance of certificates.

Upon conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

• recognize the role of COIs in contractual risk transfer
  
• recognize the potential repercussions of failing to issue COIs that meet contractual requirements
  
• identify ways to balance legal and business constraints in certifying insurance coverage
  
• recognize the issues involved in completing ACORD certificate forms
  
• identify agency procedures and quality control programs that reduce the professional liability of certificate providers while reasonably meeting the needs of certificate requestors