Commercial general liability (CGL) is a type of insurance coverage that protects a business from risks such as bodily harm, property damage, advertising, and personal injuries.

Identifying and analyzing potential risks and strategizing to avoid and reduce them are critical to successful risk management. Useful risk management techniques include certificate of insurance tracking, safety pre-qualification, regulatory screening, and vendor credentialing.

Additional insured endorsements are insurance provisions extending liability protection from the policyholder to other parties who may benefit.

Loss payees have first rights on claim payments for property losses, while additional insureds share in the named insured’s liability coverage.

The three most common mistakes in RFPs for COI tracking are failure to identify the reason for tracking vendor insurance, overestimating the levels of compliance of the current program, and focusing on the price instead of the cost.

Certificates of insurance best practices include obtaining a certificate of insurance from each vendor, asking to be named as an additional insured, carefully reviewing the certificate, assessing endorsements, getting an updated certificate at renewal, implementing an organizational scheme, and consulting an insurance professional.

Contractors pollution liability (CPL) is a type of insurance policy that protects contractors from pollution-related risks, and helps ensure an accident doesn’t turn into a disaster for your business.

While companies assume they won’t be held liable for tort claims arising from work performed by independent contractors, there are exceptions to the rule based on negligence, obligations to the public, and inherently dangerous activities.

Certificate of insurance tracking helps ensure you’re protected from liabilities associated with injuries, overdue projects, substandard work, subcontractor disputes, and other risks within the construction industry.

Collecting all pertinent information, performing a risk assessment, assessing previous renewals, and comparing rates and policies are important steps in the commercial general liability policy renewal process.

A loss payee is a common insurance policy designation that names who receives payment when there’s a loss.

Several critical features of a Certificate of Insurance tracking solution include the availability of dedicated compliance professionals, comprehensive document review, and access to vendor networks.

The ability to track certificates of insurance for free depends on a business’ technology, needs, size and complexity, together with in-house expertise. There are a number of free tools and resources available to help.

Certificate holders possess proof of insurance on commercial general liability policies, while additional insureds are other parties coverage has been extended to, beyond the initial policyholders.

The main difference between indemnification and insurance is that the former represents the process of transferring loss responsibility within a contractual relationship, and can exist independent of a policy, while the latter represents the actual contract backed by an insurance company.

Proper management of insurance documents, like the certificate of insurance, is integral for maintaining vendor/tenant compliance, protecting your business against damage claims, and more. Doing so properly requires asking the right questions.

Blanket additional insured endorsements extend named insureds' third-party coverage though a simplified process, yet include important limitations.

Primary and noncontributory endorsements are a common insurance addendum that protects those listed as additional insureds from costly third-party liability.

The difference between ongoing and completed operations coverage determines how and when subcontractor insurance policies can extend coverage to additional insureds.

Finding the best certificate of insurance (COI) tracking solution is a matter of identifying which ones offer the greatest level of service, can work with international vendors, leverage centralized support teams, and can scale with your business.

Learn what an additional insured endorsement is and why it is so important when it comes to protecting your company from third-party risk.

Boost your company’s claims management success by having your own insurance policy, requesting certificates of insurance from vendors, adding an indemnity clause to contracts, analyzing and tracking vendor insurance information, and clearly communicating expectations.

Ensure vendor compliance by conducting risk assessments and evaluations, utilizing compliance policies and contracts, and providing continual oversight. The BCS App does this all.

Working with vendors brings risks to business arrangements, including potential financial, legal and operational issues. Any company that deals with multiple third-party vendors should consider implementing a vendor risk management strategy.

The certificate of insurance tracking process includes collection and storage, analysis, correction, and follow-ups. The BCS App simplifies this process.

Hold harmless language (a/k/a indemnity language) is found in most contracts and agreements, with the purpose of transferring the obligations of one party to another to defend and make whole the other party for legal liability, typically related to the services, work or nature of the contract.

Effective contractual risk transfer strategy includes insurance requirements and the collection of documentation, correction processes and the storage and accessibility of that data.

Clear contractual language, effective internal policies and communication, and centralized tracking are several ways to increase COI compliance.

Contractual risk transfer is the ability to transfer a risk/loss from one party to another party through the language written in a contract.

Certificate of insurance tracking software, such as the BCS App, helps companies achieve and maintain compliance via a customizable, user-friendly platform and centralized data hub, which among other features, monitors and even visualizes vendors by compliance status.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence agency of the U.S. Department of Treasury that develops and enforces trade sanctions to support homeland security and foreign affairs initiatives.

Vendor screening can help reduce your liability when taking on third-party subcontractors. Depending on your industry, OFAC debarment screening, EHS screening, financial screening, and legal screening may hold significant benefits.

Thorough tenant screening includes creating tenant criteria, conducting pre-screening interview calls, collecting rental applications, running rental background checks, and following up with tenant references.

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a document that serves as proof of business insurance. It is a snapshot of an insurance policy containing all the most important details of the policy, and helps protect against third-party risk.

While the criteria of a background check is ultimately decided by the employer, a typical candidate screening may include criminal history, vendor credentials, alternate business names, insurance compliance, customer reviews, and Better Business Bureau standing.

An occurrence policy has lifetime coverage for the incidents that occur during its policy period, regardless of when the claim is reported. A claims-made policy only covers incidents that happen and are reported within the policy's time frame, unless a 'tail' extension is purchased.

A waiver of subrogation is a contractual provision that indemnifies third-party subcontractors from liability, effectively revoking an insurer's right to recoup losses from a claim concerning third-party fault for incurred damages.

Workers' Compensation Insurance is designed to protect both your business and your employees from suffering any more than necessary after a work-related injury claim.

This free, introductory resource guide to 'All Things COI' shares valuable insights and tips on tracking, improving and managing the all-important Certificate of Insurance. Download it today!

Excess and umbrella liability insurance have some important differences, most notably that the former simply provides additional limits to an underlying policy, while the latter also expands coverage to include claims and losses outside its initial scope.

Developing and implementing an effective risk management plan is essential to mitigating threats to your business. This comprehensive guide explains its importance, outlines techniques for identifying and prioritizing threats, and defines key concepts and checkpoints within this five-step process.

BCS’ unique, three-step approach to certificate of insurance tracking provides the verification, security and peace of mind so essential to third-party risk mitigation.

Basics of collecting and tracking Notices of Cancellation along with Certificates of Insurance from all of your company's vendors, tenants, and subcontractors.

Notices of insurance cancellation are not always guaranteed. It is important to collect Notice of cancellation endorsements to protect your company from risk.

BCS can help your company reduce third-party risk with our innovative compliance management solutions. Learn how to track vendor insurance using the BCS App today.

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