Most organizations have a process for collecting certificates of insurance. A request goes out, a document comes back, and a box gets checked. The problem is that process rarely surfaces what it should. A certificate arrives, limits look adequate, and the file gets closed. It’s often only after a claim surfaces that anyone discovers the coverage had lapsed, the endorsement was missing, or the limits were set for a different project scope entirely. The Two Burdens That Drive Administrative Overload COI management is time-intensive and complex. That combination is what makes it so difficult to sustain at scale. The time burden starts with communication. According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, the average employee receives 117 emails daily, and certificate management generates a constant stream of requests, reminders, and follow-ups on top of that. For organizations managing dozens or hundreds of contractors, the email thread alone can become a part-time job. As contractor counts grow, the administrative math compounds quickly with more certificates, more expiration cycles, more follow-up threads. The complexity burden comes from what each certificate actually requires. Every COI must be reviewed for coverage limits, exclusions, additional insured endorsements, and expiration dates. When a certificate is expiring, a new request cycle begins. When a contractor is non-compliant, a waiver decision needs to be made and logged. When a project spans multiple coverage types, separate compliance profiles may apply. None of this is conceptually difficult, but the volume compounds quickly, and a single missed expiration can leave an organization exposed. Spreadsheets, calendar reminders, and shared inboxes are common workarounds. They work until they don’t. A contractor renewing coverage in the wrong month, a change in project scope that triggers a new coverage requirement, or a team member leaving mid-cycle can break the system at any point. What Effective COI Management Actually Requires Organizations that move from manual to automated COI tracking consistently report meaningful gains in compliance rates, with the biggest improvements coming from verification happening at the point of entry rather than after the fact. That gap is a function of infrastructure. Effective COI management requires three things that manual processes struggle to deliver consistently. A Structured Communication Workflow Request emails, follow-up reminders, and expiration notices should all operate on a schedule, not on someone’s memory. Templated messaging for each stage of the cycle reduces the cognitive load on the team and ensures contractors receive timely, consistent outreach regardless of who is managing the queue that week. Compliance Verification at the Point of Entry Reviewing coverage data manually after the fact is where errors accumulate. When coverage information is entered and immediately checked against defined compliance profiles, deficiencies surface before they become gaps. This works best when multiple profiles exist for different project types or contractor categories, and when exceptions are logged with an explanation rather than handled informally. Proactive Expiration Management Certificates expire on predictable schedules. The follow-up process should begin well before the expiration date, with automated triggers at 90, 60, and 30 days. Waiting until a certificate has already lapsed puts the organization in a reactive position and creates leverage for contractors who are slow to renew. How Origami Risk Approaches COI Management Origami Risk delivers these capabilities within the same platform used to manage claims, incidents, locations, and contracts. Certificate data lives alongside the broader risk program, which means compliance status, coverage history, and contractor records are all visible in a single view. The platform supports batch email workflows, so requests and reminders can go out to entire contractor groups in seconds. Compliance profiles are configurable by project type, coverage category, or organizational requirement. Waivers can be granted and logged with the rationale attached to the record. Dashboards surface the certificates that need attention most urgently, and automated reporting keeps stakeholders informed at defined intervals. Organizations can also migrate existing contractor data from spreadsheets directly into the platform, which removes the rekeying step that often delays adoption. The result is a certificate management program that operates consistently at scale, with visibility into compliance status across the full contractor population and a clear record of every action taken. Explore how Origami Risk supports certificate management as part of a connected risk platform.