In an age where automation powers everything from food delivery to financial trading, it’s hard to believe that Certificates of Insurance (COIs), a critical part of the commercial insurance workflow, are still being processed like it’s 1999.
Yet, that’s the reality for brokers and agencies across the U.S. Hundreds of millions of COIs are issued every year in the U.S., and yet the process remains largely manual, repetitive, and inefficient.
A Problem Hiding in Plain Sight
COIs may seem like simple documents, but they create disproportionate drag on agency operations. For brokers, it’s death by a thousand clicks. Repetitive, low-value tasks that drain time, energy, and focus from higher-impact work. For clients, when it fails, it reflects poorly on the broker and agency, even if the coverage is flawless.
The Five Certificate Requests and Why None of Them Are Simple
To grasp the full scope of the problem, consider the five primary types of certificate requests:
- Evidence Only
- Standard Preset
- Reissue / Revision
- Renewal Blocks
- Contractual & Custom Requests
Each category comes with its own nuances and requirements. Yet, the tools brokerages rely on are fundamentally ill-equipped to manage this complexity efficiently.
Templates, Masters, and Manual Mayhem
Most agencies rely on “masters” or templates for every variation of a COI. If a master doesn’t already exist for a specific request, or if coverage changes at renewal, new ones have to be created from scratch. This often means Account Managers or CSRs are pulled into time-consuming, manual editing tasks that add little value and introduce plenty of E&O risk.
Even more frustrating? While some systems can generate COIs automatically, they still can’t deliver them without human intervention, creating a bottleneck at exactly the point where speed and service matter most. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of requests per year, and the inefficiencies compound quickly.
It's Time for a Smarter Approach
The COI process is overdue for modernization. Brokers deserve tools that can handle the complexity of today’s COI requests without forcing them into manual workarounds. Clients deserve faster, more reliable turnarounds. And agencies deserve systems that turn COIs from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage.
That’s Where Certificate Hero Comes In
Certificate Hero was built specifically to fix what the traditional systems can’t. Our platform eliminates the inefficiencies, errors, and bottlenecks that have made COI processing a pain point for decades.
By integrating directly with your existing AMS, including Applied EPIC and Vertafore’s AMS360 and Sagitta, Certificate Hero adds a powerful layer of intelligent automation that works behind the scenes to simplify every type of certificate request.
No more rigid templates. No more constant “master” creation. And no more pulling your team into repetitive admin work that drains time and morale.
Whether it’s a standard request, a complex contractual COI, or a renewal with changing coverage, Certificate Hero allows your team to generate and deliver certificates with unmatched speed and accuracy, all while improving compliance and the client experience.
Below are links to short videos which highlight Certificate Hero’s data-driven approach.
- Simple Evidence Only / Standard – Automated Quick Issue ▶️
- Streamlined Renewal Flow – 7 Steps ▶️
- Bulk Delivery & Holder Access – CertLink ▶️
- Certificates & Profiles – Cloning ▶️
- Intelligent Automation – Contract Analysis & Coverage Comparison ▶️
- Actionable Improvement – Analytics Dashboard ▶️
As you can see, Certificate Hero is more than a tool. It’s a transformational shift in how agencies manage certificates. By removing friction from one of the industry’s most painful workflows, we're unlocking massive operational efficiency, reducing risk, and driving meaningful ROI for brokerages, all while delivering a noticeably better experience for clients.
So, if you're ready to modernize your COI operations and turn a legacy liability into a strategic advantage, the path forward starts here.
By removing friction from one of the industry’s most painful workflows, we’re unlocking massive operational efficiency, reducing risk, and driving meaningful ROI for brokerages — all while delivering a noticeably better experience for clients.
You wouldn’t ask producers to fax quotes. So why let your team process COIs like it’s still 1999?
