How Certificial Helped PowerFlex Save Hundreds of Hours on COI Tracking and Improve Compliance by 90%

The Challenge

PowerFlex is a renewable energy company specializing in commercial and industrial solar, storage and EVSE charging installations. The company subcontracts most of its installation work, much of which involves rooftop solar, which is a high-risk activity. Managing insurance compliance across a large network of small subcontractors posed an ongoing challenge.

It’s difficult to run effective insurance compliance when you’re dealing with many small subcontractors, most of which don’t have a dedicated insurance or risk management department.

When Matthew Dobras joined PowerFlex, the company was using other systems to track COIs. The process was confusing and manual.

Between outdated tools and constant manual follow-ups, maintaining subcontractor compliance across dozens of projects was slow and frustrating.

Our previous COI management system was very labor intensive and not very intuitive. There was no easy way to go back and forth with someone through the system and we had issues with bottlenecks and delays around subcontractor COI compliance. The other issue was subpar support and slow response times.

How PowerFlex Saved Hundreds of Hours on COI Tracking (and how Certificial helped)

When PowerFlex adopted Certificial, the results were immediate.

The intuitive design allowed brokers and subcontractors to comply without extensive instruction or support, and PowerFlex’s team no longer had to spend hours following up on missing or incorrect COIs.

Overall Certificial is a great product. The thing I like most about Certificial is the interface. It’s very easy and intuitive. Everything is very much aligned with an ACORD COI form.

That ease of use and responsiveness meant PowerFlex could finally run insurance compliance efficiently, without the endless back-and-forth that had characterized their previous systems.

Certificial saves me at least two or three hours every week, if not more. I've gone weeks without having to handhold a subcontractor through our compliance process since we moved to Certificial, which is huge. When we do have an issue, we get prompt support.

How PowerFlex Improved Compliance to 90% (and how Certificial helped)

Before Certificial, PowerFlex’s compliance rate at any one time hovered between 60% and 70%. Within a year of implementation, it climbed to around 90%.

With our previous COI tracking system, our compliance rate hovered in the sixties and seventies. Right now it's around 90%. Same group of subcontractors, same PowerFlex project teams - the main difference is a year's worth of Certificial.

Dobras credits several Certificial features for the improvement: COIs submitted only by brokers, intuitive interface, and reliable support.

Certificial stands out for its effective direct integration with brokers. By aligning with the standard ACORD form and streamlining the submission process, Certificial makes it easy for brokers to provide clean, accurate COIs. This eliminates common issues like illegible documents, incorrect project names, or wrong addresses, problems that often lead to friction and noncompliance. Going straight to the source not only improves data quality but also drives higher compliance.

How PowerFlex Monitors Real-Time Insurance Changes with Smart COIs

Smart COIs became a major differentiator for PowerFlex by giving real-time visibility into insurance status.

“Managing the risk of subcontractor policy cancellations used to feel like a problem we just had to live with. Collecting endorsements for Notice of Cancellation is notoriously difficult, especially when you're working with a large network of subcontractors and vendors. Even when you do get them, they’re often ineffective: they can be delayed, misplaced, or buried in a mailroom. So tracking coverage in real time? That was simply too resource-intensive to scale and we had to accept that a “compliant” COI might not reflect active coverage.

Certificial’s Smart COI technology is the first solution I’ve seen that actually solves this problem. When a subcontractor’s policy is cancelled, we see it immediately in Certificial. That real-time visibility into active coverage is one of the key reasons we chose Certificial as our COI tracking solution.”

What are Smart COIs and how they help stay on top of mid-term policy cancellations and changes

A Smart COI is a certificate of insurance that automatically updates as coverage changes. Unlike PDF certs, Smart COIs capture policy cancellations & changes (such as limit reductions) and update automatically - no verification calls needed.

Here’s how you can protect your company from uninsured work and lapsed third-party coverage with Smart COIs:

Catch mid-year cancellations
An insurance agent just canceled your subcontractor’s Auto Liability. Your Certificial account reflects this immediately - no need to call and verify if coverage is still active.

Use schedule-level data
An insurance agent just removed one of your vendor’s trucks from the insurance policy. Your Certificial account reflects this immediately - and your team can check and see if the truck is on the policy in real time and stop uninsured work at the gate.

Automate COI renewals
Once your subcontractor’s insurance is renewed, Smart COI will update in your account, capturing all changes - no need to chase the sub for the updated version.

Certificial is incredibly easy to use - for us, for brokers, and even for small subcontractors.