Certificate Exchange™
About Us
Certificate Exchange is the leader in functionality and easy of use of certificate of insurance programs. The program encompasses features for of the vastly different requirements of all size firms and industries and employs governance features to prevent issuance of unauthorized certificates. The program is used by agents, brokers, direct writers and insureds and can be branded to look like the Producer's or Insured's Web site.
The program brings the certificate generation closer to the end user and reduces the work effort of the Producer, Insured and Vendor and therefore the largest cost of certificate issuance, employee expense is significantly lowered.
Company  Certificate Exchange LLC is a privately owned and privately funded firm based in Morristown, NJ. The site was launched in 1999 and immediately gained wide acceptance. Certificate Exchange was awarded a patent in May 2008 for its innovative and unique process of generating certificates.
Outgoing Certificates  Three parties may issue Outgoing certificates:
  • Producer
  • With added governance, the Insured (optional)
  • With further added governance, the Certificate Holder (optional - this innovation has growing acceptance and many Insureds find it to be an exceptional feature; it could be used as a differentiation selling tool)
    • Incoming Certificates  The vendor's producer verifies previously established insurance requirements and a certificate is immediately issued to the firm that tracks incoming certificates. If the vendor's coverage does not meet the requirements the deficiency is noted and reported. The Incoming process explodes the power of the program. Since the same database is used, each time a Producer enters information on behalf of an Incoming Certificate Holder, they are actually adding a new Insured and other certificates can then be issued on behalf of that Insured.
    Governance Features (to prevent unauthorized certificates)

    Producer Verified  Each Producer is verified for legitimacy.
    Password Protected  A password is required to gain access to the system and obtain a certificate. The password is unique to each Insured.
    Approval Required  The Producer can select parameters that require a certificate to be approved. After the Certificate Holder's name, address and relationship with the Insured is entered, an email is sent to Approvers (established by the Producer). An Approver views the certificate, makes changes if necessary and approves (or rejects) the certificate.    		 An underwriter could be an Approver for policies without omnibus additional insured or loss payee.
    Limited Selection  Only lines of business and insurance options selected by the Producer are displayed during the issuance process. For example, if a policy did not have automatic Additional Insured wording, the Additional Insured option would not appear and could not be selected.
    Predetermined Wording  Additional wording or any other text may be added to any certificate and may not be changed in the normal issuance mode. Pre-established authorized users can override the wording.

    Other Features


    Internet  Every function can be accessed through the Internet. No local software is required.
    Advertising  It is a functional business Web site without advertising.
    Training  The system is easy to use and many Producers and Insureds have used the system without training. However, on-site training and telephone Help desk are available.
    Help  Help screens are available for each screen and each field and include insurance hints and guides.
    Distribution  Certificates are automatically sent to underwriters, insureds, certificate holders and any other party, all at the Producer's option.
    Reports  Retrieval of data can be on-line or downloaded to standard application software like Excel. All data is retrievable.
    Inadequate Certificates  Should the options provided by the Producer to the Requestor not be sufficient for a particular circumstance, the Requestor may type in a message that is sent to the Approver as an email with the same embedded URL as mentioned above. The Approver may then change and approve the certificate without duplicating the data entry and the certificate is immediately sent to the Requestor and other pre-selected parties.
    Renewal  Processes allow bulk issuance of renewal certificates. Producers or Insureds with the Producer's authorization can "check" which certificates should be renewed directly from the site.
    Obsolete Certificates  A time frame can be entered to highlight the expiration of the     		 relationship between the Insured and Certificate Holder, eliminating the frustrating problem of renewing certificates when it is not practical to obtain timely renewal instructions. Our research has demonstrated that one third of the certificates renewed are unnecessary.
    Other type of Insurance  The "Other" type of insurance allows you to permanently add specialty coverage such as Professional Liability, Crime, Transit, etc.
    Remarks Box  An unlimited number of characters can be inserted in the Remarks box.
    Attachments  An unlimited number of attachments can be added to a certificate. There are two types of attachments, standard ISO forms and manuscript forms designed and entered by the Producer.
    Additional Insured  Additional Insured, Vendors Coverage, Loss Payee and Mortgagee are selected with drop down buttons eliminating the need to repeat typing identical wording from one certificate to the next.  Additional Insured wording can be standardized and governed to reduce Errors and Omission exposure.
    Standardization  Other wording can be standardized and controlled mitigating errors and omissions exposure.
    Physical Damage  Automobile Physical Damage is built into the form obviating the need to add physical damage coverage for a certificate that requires physical damage coverage.
    Memorandums  Memorandums of Insurance can be used in lieu of Certificates of Insurance.

    Customization and Branding

    Logo  Either the ACORD or Producer's logo can be shown on the certificate.
    Signature  The signature of the Producer's authorized representative will appear on the certificate.
    Branding  The site can be branded and the Producer's name and logo will appear on every screen and any reference to Certificate Exchange will be removed.    		 Links to Producer  It can be linked to a Producer's Web site.
    Links to Insured  The site can also be branded with the Insured's name and logo and linked to the Insured's Web site.  Insured links can be limited to posting a memorandum or could allow the Certificate Holder to request a certificate with or without approval depending on the Insured's preference.

    System Architecture

    Technology  Technology and equipment provide secure, stable, scalable and quick access to the site and all functionality.
    XML  The database and system architecture is designed to encompass XML. When XML standards are published for the insurance industry, the XML tag    		 will be added to the system even for data that is already present.
    Scalability  Volume can exceed one hundred millions certificates without degrading performance.
    Agency Systems  The system can be linked to agency management and proprietary systems.

    Security


    Sale of Data  Data will not be sold or distributed in any way whatsoever.
    Archive  An exact copy of every certificate is stored in the database. Even if Producer, Insured, or policy information is changed the exact details of issued certificates at the time of issuance are stored and can be retrieved eliminating the need to maintain paper copies.
    Retention  Information is perpetually retained (unless instructed by the Producer to eliminate records).    		 Passwords  Access is through changeable passwords and User IDs.
    Data Access  Security in the system prevents unauthorized access to the Producer's and Insured's data.
    Backup  Multiple backup schemes are in place.
    Encryption  SSL 128 bit encryption.
     
    Copyright 2001-2008 © Certificate Exchange™ - Patent Approved