Where To Get A Certificate Of Insurance

Learn how to get an insurance certificate if you need one....

Where can you find a Certificate of Insurance:

In most cases insurance certificates are produced by the insurance agent that provides the workers compensation coverage. In reality the certificate is probably prepared by a service person at the insurance agency where your insurance agent works. So if you need to have a certificate of insurance sent to someone for you then the first place to start is to contact your insurance agents office.

Unless the only line of insurance coverage you carry is workers compensation the insurance certificate that you ask for will also include other coverage that you have in force. This may include general liability, commercial auto along with umbrella and other insurance policies that you may have purchased.

Sometimes, under certain circumstances, certificates cannot be prepared at the insurance agents office and must come directly from the insurance company. Sometimes additional endorsements to the workers compensation policy are required by the requesting entity. Both circumstances may cause unplanned delays in securing the certificate. So it's always better to make your requests for certificates as soon as you can to ensure their timely delivery.

Restrictions on work without Insurance Certificate:

Most work projects will require that you provide certificates as proof of workers compensation coverage. Some will ask for an "original Insurance Certificate" while others will accept faxed or emailed images. Another item to be aware of is that many times whoever you are working for will not allow you or your work crew to come onto their work site until they have the properly completed certificate in their possession. Again it's a matter of timing. If the certificate is insurance agency produced you may find that some agents work very efficiently at processing requests for certs while others may not do such a good job. If there is a mistake and the correct information, as required by the contract you are working under, is not supplied on the certificate in a timely manner, you may even find yourself in breach of contract for the project.



Sometimes certificates for workers compensation coverage do not come from your insurance agent. If you secured your workers comp insurance from a State Fund or some other type of work comp provider then you may have to contact them directly in order to secure a valid insurance certificate. Many of these organizations may have on-line access to making requests for certificates.

Whatever the method used, we always suggest that you have a copy of the certificate sent to you at the same time it's being sent to whoever made the original request. We belief you should always maintain a certificate sent file in your office and not rely on the insurance agent or company.

It's a fact, there are only three times a certificate of insurance comes into play:

When the job begins and everyone is trying to get their ducks in a row. When there's a claim problem and a reference to workers comp coverage must be made. At audit time when premium dollars are on the line.

Follow the link at the top of this page for our next topic about Insurance Certificates.

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WORKERS COMPENSATION CONSULTANT
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email: rks@workcompconsultant.com


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