Does your delivery need a C.O.I?

In the Transportation Logistics world insurance is required for pretty much everything. General Liability, Motor Truck, Contingent Cargo and Marine Cargo as well as coverage's like Errors and Omissions and Workman's Compensation. You would think by needing all this coverage that moving cargo around the world and into someones business or their home is a pretty risky endeavor. It is!

Gateway O.T performs Inside and White Glove delivery services where the building owner or management company requires us to prove we have sufficient insurance coverage while in or on their property. Our Crate and Freight division performs on site packing and crating services for large corporations that require we meet their minimum insurance requirements before we enter their property.

Large corporations carry many insurances but have to minimize their risk of claims against those policies by ensuring that the outside contractors they utilize have the coverage needed in case of an accident while on their property.

When we take our vehicles (trucks/vans) onto a companies property to load product or to unload crates for a project, Motor Truck Insurance coverage is required in case the truck accidentally hits another vehicle, structure or other items at the companies facility.

If while taking a pallet or a crate to a location in a building and that pallet smacks into a wall and creates a large dent, or knocks over some materials damaging them, there needs to be a general liability policy that can cover the cost of replacement or repair.

By the same token if an employee of Gateway is severely injured while on site at one of these locations and needs to collect workman's compensation insurance the company will require proof that such coverage exists.

A C.O.I or Certificate of Insurance is whats needed to prove that such coverage exists. 

Here is an example of a General Liability C.O.I for Gateway

This certificate is what we provide the requesting party with. Beside the Corporations we contract with, we mainly get requests for these certificates when we or one of our agents perform an Inside Delivery or White Glove Delivery into a residential complex or apartment building.

Normally the requesting party is a building property owner or property management company. They want to make sure that if an item is being moved down the hallway and falls and breaks, damaging the flooring or a wall or nice artwork in the lobby, that they will get reimbursed for such damage.

A Certificate of Insurance shows the requester that the company entering their property has proper insurance coverage in case an accident does occur.

For most requests by both corporations and apartment buildings, the Certificate of Insurance needs to be issued with specific information:

1. Coverage:  The requester must provide what minimum general liability they require, is it 1 million? 2 Million? 5? 10? It just needs to be verified that the coverage is above or at the  minimum requested.

2. Location:  This confuses people. The additional Certificate Holder is not always the location the item is delivering to. The big section almost toward the bottom of the C.O.I that asks Description of operation/locations/vehicles should list the actual delivery address location, including tenant name and apartment number.

3. Additional Certificate Holder: This is the actual covered party that may or may not be the delivery location but is the true holder of the COI  

A good way to explain 2 and 3 is: If one of our agents were doing a delivery to a resident in Trump Tower Chicago the C.O.I would read Delivery Location (2): 401 N Wabash Ave Chicago IL 60611 Mr: Smith Apartment #1, but the actual Certificate Holder (Bottom left hand box of C.O.I, 3) would be Trump Organization 725 5th Ave A New York, NY 10022

So with any pickup, delivery or job that needs to be performed, these pieces of information must be known before the insurer can provide a proper Certificate of Insurance.

Having proper insurances is important in this industry and knowing whats needed to get the job done and reduce the risks for all parties involved is good business. Hopefully my blog has helped you understand what a C.O.I is, why its needed, and what information it must contain. If you need properly insured logistics managed services please give us a try.

Gateway Optimum Transportation and Gateway Crate and Freight is a 3PL Located in Tempe, Arizona and provides crating, packing and transportation services that include beyond threshold moves like inside and white glove pickup and delivery services. visit www.gatewayot.com and www.gatewaycrateandfreight.com for more info.