COI tracking software demo: 15 questions and a test packet to bring

A COI tracking software demo is built to go well. The sample certificate is clean, the endorsement is the ISO form the tool knows best, and the broker on screen answers in a minute. None of that tells you what happens on your jobs.

This guide gives you a test packet to bring and 15 questions to ask, so every vendor is judged on the same real problems. Use it with our full comparison of COI tracking software for construction to pick who gets a demo.

The test packet

Pull five real certificates from your files, remove personal details, and bring the project requirements they were supposed to meet.

1. No completed operations coverage. An ongoing operations additional insured endorsement (CG 20 10) with no completed operations form. See whether additional insured status covers you after the job is done.
2. A carrier's own endorsement form. Not an ISO form number. The tool should judge the wording, not the number. PINS Advantage puts it this way on their site: the wording matters more than the form number.
3. An umbrella below the owner's limit. The certificate looks complete; the number is short.
4. A named insured that doesn't match. A related company, a dba, or a misspelling.
5. A policy that renews mid-project. So you can see what the tool does next.

15 questions to ask

Reading the documents

1. Does the tool read the endorsement wording or check that a form is attached?
2. Show me the page and the language behind this result.
3. What does it do with a scanned, rotated or partial PDF?
4. The ACORD 25 says the certificate doesn't amend, extend or alter the policy. How does your tool get from the certificate to the endorsements and the policy?

Deciding

1. Who makes the final call on each result: the AI, your reviewers or my team?
2. When my team overrules a result, where is that recorded and who can see it?
3. Can one project carry different requirements from another, with exceptions?

Fixing the gap

1. Show me this deficient certificate going to the broker. What exactly does the broker see?
2. Does the broker or subcontractor need an account, and do they ever pay?
3. How does the corrected document come back, and is it re-checked automatically?

After approval

1. What happens at renewal, and how early do requests go out?
2. How do you hear about a mid-term cancellation or limit change?

Fitting in

1. Where does compliance status show up in our project and accounting systems, and can it hold a payment?
2. How long until our first project is live, and what do you need from us? PINS Advantage, for example, says most teams are live within a week and a full rollout typically takes 30 to 90 days.
3. What does the price include, and what is extra: endorsement review, integrations, users, policy review?

How to score it

Score each demo on what happened to your five certificates:

Our COI Journal report What to require from any COI tool is a vendor-neutral spec you can attach to an RFP.

About this guide

This guide was written by the Forsured team. Forsured makes COI tracking software, and we'd rather be judged on your test packet than on our demo. Send us one project's requirements and a contractor COI or two for a free COI risk check.