Did you know that, on average, 4 out of 10 contractors do not meet the insurance requirements for their contracts? That means there’s a 40% chance that an independent contractor’s mistake won’t be covered, even if they’ve given you a Certificate of Insurance. Unsurprisingly, if a contractor causes losses, it’s the larger entity that they’re contracting with who gets sued. (If you wanted 100,000 in damages, would you sue a single person or a staffing company?)
The main reason the percentage is so high is that there isn’t a great way to keep track of whether a contractor is compliant or not. Even if you know which contractors have a certificate of insurance, the PDF form won’t show if the coverage has been cancelled, or notify you when it’s expired. Keeping constant track of start and end dates, auditing COIs for insurance fraud, manually matching coverages to requirements, and working with contractors to get the right coverage can take over 6 hours per week, and still only yields about 60% coverage confidence.
The best way to keep up with current insurance coverages without spending hours manually emailing contractors and updating spreadsheets, is to integrate a compliance management software with the tools you’re already using. That’s why Bunker created an API.
Bunker is the only compliance management platform that matches a contractor’s coverages to the actual requirements in their contract, monitors expiration and cancellation, and can instantly provide insurance to anyone who doesn’t have what they need. The API allows us to send this information directly to your favorite tools and apps. For example, your Excel spreadsheet could update automatically when a contractor has the coverage they need, send you a slack or email notification to let you know they’re good to go, and instantly inform you if their policy is cancelled or expired.
The best part of Bunker’s API is that there’s absolutely no IT experience necessary. We have thousands of pre-made integrations through Zapier, like email, Google Sheets, and Salesforce, which you can set up in less than 5 minutes. For more complex integrations with tools like Origami Risk, Bunker will set it up for you!
Here are a few examples of how you can spend 5 minutes to save 5 hours per week:
Click here to visit our Zapier page!
Setup Time: 2 Minutes
On average, it takes about 10 emails back and forth to get a contractor compliant and ready to begin their contract. Bunker automates this process, by integrating with dozens of email apps.
Perhaps more importantly, Bunker can notify you when a contractor is no longer compliant, due to canceled or expired insurance. If a contractor cancels their policy after providing a PDF certificate of insurance, you likely won’t find out until you’re being sued. Bunker’s Live COI provides real-time visibility into active insurance policies, notifying you immediately if someone becomes non-compliant. One email could save you thousands in legal fees later on!
Google Sheet & Excel
Setup Time: 2 Minutes
Even with thousands of independent workers on their payroll, many onboarding coordinators use a simple spreadsheet to track compliance. The standard system involves sending an insurance requirement via email, waiting for the contractor to purchase insurance (which can take weeks), receiving a PDF certificate of insurance, recording the start and expiration dates in a spreadsheet, and sending another email notifying interested parties that the contractor is compliant and ready to work.
Bunker’s integration would allow you to send requirements from the Bunker platform,
and a column in your spreadsheet will update automatically. Depending on the level of detail you’d prefer, the column can reflect where they are in the buying process, or simply whether or not they’re compliant. Because Bunker’s Live COI is dynamic, rather than a static PDF, their compliance status will update in real time if their policy is cancelled or expired.
Slack
Setup Time: 2 Minutes
Statistically, about 10% of Independent Contractors’ insurance expires every month. Hundreds more cancel their policies after providing “proof of insurance” in PDF form. Bunker is one of the only COI management platforms that tracks real-time insurance information, meaning we can update you immediately when a contractor is no longer compliant.
Bunker will send you a Slack notification any time a contractor cancels their insurance, or a policy expires before their contract is over. With instant compliance notifications, you can be 100% certain that your vendors, contractors and suppliers are compliant, without adding anything to your day to day routine.
As they say, a Slack a day keeps the lawsuits away!
Salesforce
Setup Time: 5-10 Minutes
For many companies, Salesforce is the “source of truth” for their workforce, leads, and applicant data. Make that data reflect real-time compliance with Bunker’s Salesforce integration. Any system or tool you have using Salesforce will also be updated with real-time compliance status. Setup a compliance status within your Salesforce records, connect to Bunker, and you’re ready to view where every contractor, vendor, and supplier are in the insurance buying process.
Click here to visit our Zapier page!
Do you have a preferred tool or system that you want to plug Bunker’s compliance technology with? Contact us today to chat.
Want to learn more about Bunker’s on-demand insurance solutions? Enter your email and a member of our team will be in touch within the week!