COI Tracking Software Evaluation Checklist
Evaluate COI tracking software with a small working pilot, not only a feature list. Define the documents you collect, the requirements you check and the people who resolve exceptions. Then ask each product to demonstrate the same cases.
The checklist below is an original evaluation method. It is not a certification standard or a claim that any vendor passes every item.
Prepare four document cases
- A clear certificate whose reported fields match your numerical requirements.
- A scan with an unclear limit or date that needs correction.
- A packet with a missing supporting endorsement.
- A renewal that changes the carrier or policy terms while keeping similar limits.
Remove confidential information or obtain authorization before using real customer files. Keep a manual answer sheet identifying which fields are known and which questions require a specialist.
Score ten capabilities
Use zero for absent, one for workable with manual steps and two for demonstrated in the pilot. The maximum is 20; it is a comparison aid, not a pass/fail coverage assessment.
| Capability | What to demonstrate |
|---|---|
| Vendor identity | Prevent attaching a document to the wrong business |
| Field correction | Correct a misread and rerun relevant comparisons |
| Policy dates | Distinguish future, current and expired evidence |
| Multiple documents | Preserve supporting and historical files |
| Requirements | Show which exact rule produced an exception |
| Evidence | Explain where a conclusion came from |
| Follow-up | Show missing-document and renewal requests |
| Ownership | Assign a person to unresolved questions |
| Usage limits | Show allowance consumption and behavior at the cap |
| Exit | Export usable records and source documents |
Test specialist requirements explicitly
If your program needs pollution-policy, endorsement or exclusion review, ask for that exact packet. BCS’s RiskBot release distinguishes review levels, while CertFocus’s FAQ describes professional verification. A shared “AI review” label does not establish identical scope.
Ask what remains unknown, who handles it and whether the selected plan includes that work. Do not treat document extraction as proof that every coverage condition was interpreted correctly.
A hypothetical selection meeting
A property team gives two providers the same de-identified renewal. Both extract the new expiry date, but only one pilot makes the unresolved endorsement question visible to the assigned reviewer. The team records that observed result alongside cost, export and follow-up effort. It does not generalize the exercise into a universal vendor accuracy percentage.
For Certy, test the free checker and review plan limits before starting a paid pilot. Certy offers certificate administration rather than a managed coverage-opinion service. Use the pricing guide to compare the resulting scope and cost on the same basis.
Frequently asked questions
What should I use in a COI software demo?
Use de-identified or authorized sample packets that include a clean certificate, an unreadable field, a missing endorsement and a policy change. Ask the vendor to show the resulting next actions.
Should I compare only automatic compliance percentages?
No. Test the exact documents and requirements your program uses, the evidence behind each result, corrections, escalation and export. A vendor statistic is not an independent test of your workflow.