Success Story: JLL

The Challenge:
The Revolving Door of COIs

For Property Managers, certificates of insurance (COIs) are a necessary evil faced by anyone who manages a commercial property. Serving as proof of current and sufficient insurance, they protect building owners and tenants against liability from the negligent acts of service providers, subcontractors, tenants, or anyone else involved with a building.

As a risk management tool, they’re crucial, but managing them day to day is an obligatory and time-devouring chore for property management teams. In fact, depending on the size of a building, property management teams can potentially spend 10 percent or more of their time simply collecting COI paperwork, waiting for amendments, and verifying renewals.

Because those property teams aren’t insurance experts, human error can increase the risks of compliance gaps and liability issues.
At the same time, COIs frustrate tenants who want to hire service providers but end up being told that no, that vendor can’t come until we validate its insurance papers.

At most buildings, it’s pretty standard that it’s the Property Administrator’s or Tenant Services Coordinator’s responsibility to review the COIs.

This created some personal anxiety because I felt like the responibilities and risks to JLL and the client fell on me, and I wasn’t even an insurance expert.

Manage COIs Automatically to Reduce Liability and Save Time

For JLL, a global leader in real estate services, tracking hundreds of COIs for a single large building and thousands across the entire company was not only a huge time sink, but it created unnecessary stress for property teams.

As Jason Smith, Vice President, Operations for JLL’s San Francisco Property Management Team, explained, “For one large building, we may have to manage not only 500 active and expiring COIs but also COIs for 80 tenants, each of whom may want to bring multiple service providers into the building.”

COI paperwork is full of details that need to be confirmed and tracked, including endorsements and waivers, and the certificates often trigger negotiations about insurance levels. Traditionally tracked in simple Excel spreadsheets, COIs and their renewals, which often arrive on paper via regular mail, can stack up, resulting in confusion and delays.

Smith and his JLL colleagues knew there had to be a better way: some sort of digital and automated platform to acquire, manage, audit, and store COIs much more efficiently.

The Solution

JLL turned to Jones to see if it could improve compliance rates, save time managing COIs, and make the COI experience simpler for everyone involved. As an insurance compliance software-as-a-service management solution built specifically for real estate, Jones offers services to capture, audit, and monitor insurance requirements for vendors, tenants, and contractors.

Jones handles the back and forth with vendors and service
providers, verifies the COIs as they come in, and tracks their
expiration dates.

Negotiations as well. Now property management teams can simply upload the building’s insurance requirements to Jones, and Jones handles the back and forth with vendors and service providers, verifies the COIs as they come in, and tracks their expiration dates.

“As Property Managers, overall, our job is to protect the asset for our owners, and also protect JLL from liability. Having Jones take care of that process, and do it well, takes a lot of stress off of us.”

The Result

2 Weeks

Average Time to Value

10K+

COIs Audited in 2022

300+

JLL Office and Retail Assests

75+

Less Time to Obtain a Compliant COI

“I use it every day”

Said Jon Olson, a JLL Assistant General Manager of a Manhattan building with 31 tenants. the dashboard is laid out simply and literally lights up green to let me see when a COI is approved. “Onboarding new tenants has become easier. “I ask a tenant for a standart COI and send them a link to which they should send it. Jones receives it, verifies it, and sends e-mail approval right away.” Olson added. Property management teams no longer have to read-and understand – insurance fine print. Jones handles it.

“My favorite aspect of Jones is knowing that all of our Vendor and Tenant COIs are achieving real compliance, which is great for JLL and client”

Jon Olson

JLL Assistant General Manager

“We’re finding the more we use Jones, the more we get out of it”

Said Jon Olson, a JLL Assistant General Manager of a Manhattan building with 31 tenants. the dashboard is laid out simply and literally lights up green to let me see when a COI is approved. “Onboarding new tenants has become easier. “I ask a tenant for a standart COI and send them a link to which they should send it. Jones receives it, verifies it, and sends e-mail approval right away.” Olson added. Property management teams no longer have to read-and understand – insurance fine print. Jones handles it.

COIs may always be a nuisance, but now they’re a nuisance that can be managed.