COI expiration reminder email template

The template

Subject: Certificate expiring on [date] for [coverage line]. Body: Hello [name], the [general liability, workers' compensation, or auto] certificate we have on file for [company] shows an expiration of [date]. Please send a current certificate before that date. The certificate holder should read [legal name]. If your contract requires additional insured or waiver language, include that the same way as last time. Reply with the PDF or upload it here: [update link]. We will review it before it replaces the certificate on file. Thank you, [your name], [your company].

That is the whole message. Do not add a threat you will not carry out, and do not claim their policy has been cancelled. You are saying the certificate you hold is about to expire. Those are different facts. A certificate can show a future expiration on a policy the carrier has already cancelled, and a reminder email cannot detect that. You are managing the document you were given.

Why three dates, not one

Thirty days is enough for a broker to issue a renewal certificate without a panic. Fourteen days catches the vendor who archived the first email. Seven days is the last note before you should decide whether they start the next job. Sending only on the morning of expiration trains vendors to ignore you until the day of. Sending weekly for three months trains them the same way. The default windows are 30, 14, and 7 because they are specific.

Put the coverage line in the subject. A vendor with four policies will otherwise send you the auto ID card when you needed general liability. Put the certificate holder name in the body so they do not recycle a certificate made for a different general contractor. If you use the update link, the upload lands in Review instead of in a personal inbox that is empty when that person is on a job site.

• Name the coverage line and the expiration in the subject.
• Name the certificate holder in the body.
• Give one upload destination, not three email addresses.
• Do not say the policy is cancelled unless the carrier told you that.
• Review the file before it becomes current.

Using the product instead of the mail merge

Each document with an expiration can trigger an email reminder. The party needs an email address. This version does not send text messages. The update link in the email is unique to the request. The vendor does not need a password. You still accept the PDF. Starter is $29 a month or $290 a year for 25 parties. Pro is $59 or $590 for 100. Business is $99 or $990 for 300. Annual is two months free. The 7-day trial is for first-time subscribers only.

If you want the reading list for the PDF they send back, use what to check on a subcontractor COI and the additional insured checklist. The email's job is to get a new file into a known place before the date. It is not the review. The review is still a person comparing the holder, the line, and the expiration to what you asked for.