2009 ACORD 25 - Are Your Insurance Requirements Obsolete?
Posted by Cary White on Sat, Nov 27, 2010 @ 06:22 PM
Reviewing a number of issues on the web, I came across a post from David Sullivan, Risk Managers, LLC, in LinkedIn Answers. The changes in the 2009 ACORD 25 have happened. ACORD has discontinued use of previous versions of the ACORD 25 form. Use of previous versions of the ACORD 25 may lead to violation of user licenses with ACORD. While past form changes encouraged by ISO about additional insured endorsements and other issues were slow to be adopted or were ignored, the radical changes in the 2009 ACORD 25 should encourage everyone to review their insurance requirements again from the ground up. Everyone should carefully review their insurance requirements in light of the 2009 changes to the ACORD 25.
- Obsolete or redundant language should be removed
- References to old or no longer valid forms should be replaced with either the new forms or more generic language that will be enforceable
- Specific custom insurance certificate form modifications should be deleted and replaced with requirements for the necessary endorsements to get exactly what you want, and
- You should revisit your specific verification and compliance procedures and related penalties for non-compliance, if any
This process should also lead to a top to bottom review of all of your procedures regarding communication and reinforcement of your insurance requirements including your insurance certificate request letter, your insurance certificate compliance letters and the system you use to track your vendor insurance certificate compliance. Insurance certificate tracking software will greatly simplify your insurance certificate management efforts significantly right away and for years to come. You have any number of different options to review including enterprise or internet insurance certificate management software options. If you are using a system already, great. Review what you have and see if you understand and are using all of its capabilities. If you are not using a system now, perhaps now is a great time to investigate what is out there to find what is right for you.
(Image Note: Scot Hacker found this sign at a construction project - for more information about the sign and Scot Hacker, check out his blog at Scot Hacker's Foobar Blog )