Recommendations for COI tracking software for owner/developer
Hi All,

I work for a large developer/owner of retail properties and our COI review process for tenant vendors is very cumbersome. It all done manually and involves a ton of back and forth emails with tenants and their vendors to the get the COI correct (all the right boxes checked, all the right AI wording etc etc etc). 

I see that there are some options out there on the marketplace claiming to make this easier and more automated. Does anyone have any experience with these? Were they worth it? Was it a lot smoother or was it just marginally better? Any thoughts you could share would be greatly appreciated!
[{"id": "i8vaq1k", "text": "No software can compete with hiring a team of dedicated compliance specialists to oversee these tasks, software can\u2019t interpret leases, send out automatic emails and requests necessary revisions. A good team of people can save the company millions in premiums when all is said and done.", "replies": [{"id": "ibtrdqg", "text": "I managed buildings with hundreds of tenants - managing COIs is a complex and time consuming business. Also there is huge liability especially when you find out that your tenants don't have proper coverage.", "replies": [{"id": "ibuaa4y", "text": "My company used ITS (Insurance Tracking Systems), spent around $50k for one year of service and they did nothing. For the portfolio they were assigned, the compliance percentage was only 30-35% after one year of service. Would not recommend using a vendor for this but instead to hire someone.", "replies": [{"id": "ibvint6", "text": "Out of curiosity - how many COIs did they have to review in that year for 50k?\n\nI do not know much about ITS and I would not blame them completely for the low percentage of compliance.\n\nTypically, when a PM  company/landlord outsources the compliance management  to a third-party vendor (insurance broker most of the times) there are some procedures in place such as:\n\n1) The vendor will reach out to the tenants and request for COIs\n\n2) If the tenants don't comply, they will make a 2nd request\n\n3) After that the company will escalate these to the property manager/company etc.\n\n4) At that time the property manager will either reach out to the tenant directly or they can issue a Demand notice . At that point I am sure the tenant will comply.\n\nOne of the challenges from the third-party brokers is they  don't have a good software to track COIs and rely heavily on excel files. \n\njust my 2 cents...", "replies": [{"id": "ibvsa80", "text": "It was roughly 600 or so COIs. I would put the blame on them actually, and here\u2019s why: \n\nMy company acquired this portfolio and the compliance % was only about 40%, after 1 year of service with ITS it dropped to 25%. From the records they kept, they attempted once per tenant and if they didn\u2019t hear back from the tenant they wouldn\u2019t let us know. \n\nI then took over the position within my company, got rid of ITS and in my first year there had the compliance % just under 90% by the 7th month. We now hover at the 85-90% compliant range now.", "replies": [{"id": "ibvzevu", "text": "I agree with you  - in your case they actually did a poor job.\n\nHow are you managing this process now internally?\n\nAs you know there is so much data on the COI that must be tracked for compliance purposes - not just Expiration date:\n\n1. Certificate holder information - to make sure it matches the lease\n2. Insured's name/address\n3. Coverages:\n\n\\- CGL\n\n\\- Claims Made\n\n\\- Pollution\n\n\\- Automobile\n\n\\- All risks\n\n\\- Boiler and Machinery\n\n\\- Business Interruption\n\netc.\n\n4) 30 days cancelation provisions\n\n5) Waiver of subrogation \n\nand so on....\n\nThat's why I decided for my team to track this using a software but to be done in-house.", "replies": [{"id": "ibwkz27", "text": "Currently use Building Engines to track, it\u2019s not the best but we are able to configure the required coverages, set the minimum limit, and track insurers AM Best ratings to ensure they meet minimum requirements. If confirmations or revisions are needed I request from either the tenant or insurance agency directly. My company has a team of compliance specialists to track this for all of our regions.", "replies": [{"id": "ibwo6w2", "text": "How is Building Engines by the way? Never used it before.\nAre you managing residential or commercial real estate ?", "replies": [{"id": "ibwpdv9", "text": "Commercial. And BE is pretty legit for the most part, but when dealing with a lot of properties (500+) running reports becomes kind of a hassle as it can\u2019t handle that many property IDs, so it takes a little while to get all the properties on one report. Otherwise, I have no complaints.", "replies": [{"id": "ibwpz8r", "text": "That's a big portfolio :). How is the pricing structure ? Do you pay by sq.ft. or by users? And how much is roughly?\nI know Angus Anywhere but their software is stuck in the past , bad UI, lack of basic functionalities.", "replies": [{"id": "ibwqpx5", "text": "Above my pay grade to be honest haha I strictly just track the insurance requirements for tenants and vendors.", "replies": [{"id": "ibwtay0", "text": "no worries....:)\n\nsince you're expertise is in the COIs tracking - could we chat outside of this thread?\n\nI am looking for a unbiased/ critical feedback regarding one of our processes for insurance verification.", "replies": [{"id": "ibwvw6b", "text": "Sure feel free to DM me!", "replies": [{"id": "ibxbe1g", "text": "For whatever reason I can not message you directly. Can you try from your end?", "replies": [], "depth": 14}], "depth": 13}], "depth": 12}], "depth": 11}], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i8vjht7", "text": "I'd suggest making a form/Templete with the boxes and wording you want in red.  I understand your frustration but as far as I know there is no software. Your PM should be able to quickly glance and know what's wrong.", "replies": [{"id": "ibtruiy", "text": "from my experience (many years of managing real estate)  - this solution works if you have only 10-20 tenants. Also, COIs are complicated documents - not a lot of PMs know /understand how to read a COI and if it's compliant with the lease requirements.\n\nthere is dedicated software for this -check my message above.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i8y2xlc", "text": "Totally interested in what you find on this.", "replies": [{"id": "ibts5dq", "text": "just sent you a message.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ibtrmga", "text": "One of the best solutions for CRE/landlords/developers is [www.complianceprop.com](https://www.complianceprop.com) . They have a fully automated system where you can track all COIs, issue notices to the tenants, upload files etc.\n\nDM if interested and I will provide you my contact with this company. They are based in Canada.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]