Certificial, a platform for end-to-end Certificate of Insurance (COI) management, has announced a partnership with ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry. This collaboration aims to advance digital Smart COIs, positioning them as a future standard for insurance verification.
Smart COI technology connects source policy data directly with ACORD’s standardized data format. Unlike static PDFs, Smart COIs automatically update whenever a policy is canceled, changed, or renewed, ensuring that the certificate always reflects the most current insurance information from the original source, such as an agency management system. ACORD, which first introduced an industry-standard Certificate of Insurance in 1976, plays a foundational role in providing standardized forms for proof of insurance between carriers, agents, insureds, and certificate holders.
Under this partnership, Certificial and ACORD will work together to optimize Smart COIs. The objective is to provide customers with critical updates that meet insurance compliance requirements, adapt to changes in data standards for emerging risks, and contribute to the broader modernization and digitalization of insurance systems and processes.
Tanya Krochta, Chief Operating Officer at ACORD, commented on the initiative, stating, “One of ACORD’s core missions has always been supporting innovation and collaboration in the insurance technology community. Partnering with forward-thinking technology providers like Certificial enables us to drive progress for both the industry and its customers – who will now be able to track live policy data in real time, in the industry-standard format.”
For insurance agents, the Smart COI platform aims to automate the reissuance of COIs, eliminate extra portals and duplicate data entry, and prevent outdated information. By issuing Smart COIs in real time, agents can enhance accuracy, mitigate errors and omissions (E&O) risk, and reduce the time spent on COI creation. Certificial’s existing integrations allow agents to continue working within their current Agency Management Systems (AMS), including platforms such like Applied and Vertafore.
Certificate holders, also known as requestors, benefit from Smart COI technology by receiving compliance data pulled directly from insurance policies, which is designed to remove the risk associated with outdated certificates. This live data provides compliance teams and risk managers with real-time access to insurance information without requiring significant additional technology, as the data is pushed directly to the company tracking the COI.
Peter Teresi, Co-Founder of Certificial, expressed the company’s commitment to the partnership. “Rapid digitalization of the industry has created a need for verification methods beyond static COIs and traditional tracking tools,” Teresi said. “But, requiring and reviewing entire multi-page insurance policies is rarely practical for fast-moving companies, leaving the industry stuck between a rock and a hard place. Smart COI technology changes that, ensuring that certificates are a fully reliable source of data that creates a safeguard for all stakeholders against risk and uninsured claims. Delivering verification via the ACORD COI, which is the industry standard across all of North America, gives our customers the assurance that their policy tracking is accurate, compliant, and accepted everywhere.”
In conjunction with the partnership, Certificial has also joined the Licensed Integrator Partner program of ACORD Solutions Group (ASG). This membership will allow Certificial to integrate its offerings with ASG’s AI-enabled solutions and services for digital data exchange and conversion. Chris Newman, CEO of ACORD Solutions Group, welcomed Certificial, noting that “Digital delivery of historically manual processes is a cornerstone of our shared vision for driving increased efficiency and customer satisfaction in the industry. Real-time insurance verification through Smart COIs is the perfect example of turning traditional static documents into a data-first experience.”
These partnership announcements follow a year of growth for Certificial, which included a new integration with Applied Epic systems. This integration enables Epic users to receive COI requests directly within their system and automatically keep their clients’ Certificate Holders informed of policy status changes. Currently, Certificial’s Smart COI platform supports a substantial number of agencies, enterprises, and vendors, and integrates with leading carriers, agency management systems, and vendor management platforms such as Achilles, Truckstop, and DAT. The company aims to establish a new benchmark for compliance tracking and insurance verification through its delivery of automated, audit-ready, and policy-connected certificates.
