Producers may either request certificates of insurance from the WCRIBMA using the Certificate of Insurance tool on our website or may continue to submit requests to the assigned carrier. Since the producer is not a contract agent or agency of the Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Pool, the producer has no authority to issue certificates of insurance on assigned risk business. For policies with no agent listed, employers must request certificates of insurance from the assigned carrier.

WCRIBMA Certificate of Insurance Web Tool

As of September 2015, the WCRIBMA is providing to producers who have OAR (Online Assigned Risk) accounts a tool on our website through which the producer can request certificates of insurance from the WCRIBMA that provide evidence of Massachusetts workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance coverage. To request a certificate through this tool all of the following conditions must be met; otherwise the producer must request the certificate from the assigned carrier.

• The policy is a Massachusetts Assigned Risk Pool policy.

• The policy has been issued by the assigned carrier, reported to the WCRIBMA, and successfully loaded into the WCRIBMA’s coverage database. The status of the policy can be verified by accessing the Proof of Coverage - Coverage Verification Search tool at www.mass.gov/lwd/workers-compensation/investigations/.

• The producer reported on the policy as the broker of record is the same as the producer logged into OAR and requesting the certificate of insurance.

• The policy is not more than three (3) years old.

• The policy was not reported to the WCRIBMA as an employee leasing policy.

• The certificate does not require multiple employers, multiple addresses, or special coverage wording to be shown on the certificate as no wording can be added to or removed from the our certificate of insurance form.

Copies of all certificates of insurance issued through the WCRIBMA’s Certificate of Insurance tool are provided to the assigned carriers through our web product Manage Policy.

For detailed information on using the Certificate of Insurance web tool, refer to the Certificates of Insurance section of the OAR User's Guide.

Certificate of Insurance Requests to the Assigned Carrier

All requests for certificates of insurance must be submitted to the servicing carrier or voluntary direct assignment carrier (“assigned carriers”) on the MASSACHUSETTS ASSIGNED RISK POOL REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE FORM or on a document that is formatted to contain information identical to that on the form and enables the carrier to quickly ascertain if all of the required information is provided.

The assigned carrier will issue and distribute the certificate of insurance by email or facsimile to each contact provided within two (2) business days of the carrier's receipt of a fully and accurately completed form. For new business where the policy has not yet been issued, the carrier is allowed ten (10) days from the date the assigned carrier is in receipt of both 1) the assignment package and deposit premium from the WCRIBMA and 2) a fully and accurately completed Massachusetts Assigned Risk Pool Request for Certificate of Insurance Form to issue and distribute the certificate of insurance.

If no email address or fax number is provided for a person or persons to whom the certificate of insurance should be issued, the carrier will mail the certificate of insurance.

If the assigned carrier receives an incomplete request form, the carrier will email or fax the form back within two (2) business days of receipt, to the producer or to the insured if no producer is identified, indicating the form’s deficiency. The carrier will not track returned forms. It is the requestor’s responsibility to re-submit the corrected form to the carrier. The certificate of insurance will then be issued by email or facsimile within two (2) business days of the carrier’s receipt of the resubmitted form.

The Massachusetts Assigned Risk Pool Request for Certificate of Insurance form is available in PDF format for printing or in Word format which can be saved to your own PC and completed in Word. The form may be emailed, mailed or faxed to the designated representative(s) for each assigned carrier. Each assigned carrier has designated staff to issue certificates of insurance as follows.

References:

Circular Letter #2263 dated September 11, 2015 - Online Certificate of Insurance Tool - Assigned Risk Pool Policies.
Circular Letter #2258 dated May 21, 2015 - the Division of Insurance issued Bulletin 2015-02 to provide guidance with respect to implementation of M.G.L. c.175L concerning the issuance of Certificates of Insurance in the Commonwealth.
Circular Letter #2254 dated February 19, 2015 - An Act relative to certificates of insurance was signed into law on January, 7, 2015.
Circular Letter #2199 dated July 3, 2012 - which provides a new format that is easier to follow, incorporates the instructions for issuing Certificates of Insurance that were originally announced in Circular Letter #2045, and contains some clarifying language.
Circular Letter #2176 dated April 8, 2011 - which provides a copy of the Division of Insurance Bulletin regarding certificates of insurance, evidence of coverage forms and binders.
Circular Letter #2071 dated October 24, 2007 - which provides Audit Guidelines for Sole Proprietor and Partnership Certificates of Insurance. These guidelines, which are effective immediately, are mandatory for all Residual Market policies.
Circular Letter #2057 dated June 22, 2007 - which addresses some of the questions that have been asked as a result of the Procedures effective May 1, 2007.
Circular Letter #2045 dated February 14, 2007 - which announces additional Procedures for Issuing Certificates of Insurance for Sole Proprietors and Partnerships. These procedures have a mandatory effective date of May 1, 2007.
Special Bulletin #09-03 dated September 8, 2003 - which announces new procedures for obtaining Certificates of Insurance on assigned risk policies effective October 1, 2003.
Notice to Pool Carriers #02-1 dated December 16, 2002 - which announces no change in the procedure requiring that certificates of insurance for Pool policies only be issued by servicing carriers or voluntary direct assignment carriers (VDACs).

Servicing Carriers

Voluntary Direct Assignment Carriers (VDAC)