ALOHA INSURANCE SERVICES

Information on the New Form and its restrictions

In September 2009, Accord revised the Accord 25 Certificate of Insurance. One of the major changes to this form was the removal of the cancellation provision. The change was done in response to pressure from a number of state regulators who advised that the notice of cancellation is a right provided only by the policy provisions and is not a service that can be provided by insurance agents.

To explain further, a standard unendorsed insurance policy does not provide for notice of cancellation to be sent to anyone but the Named Insured on the policy. Additional Insured endorsement forms do not allow for a notice of cancellation to be provided to the Additional Insured when cancellation occurs. Since a provision for advance notice of cancellation to an Additional Insured, Certificate Holder or any other party other than the Named Insured does not exist on the policy form itself, it cannot be included on a certificate of insurance.

We recommend that an attorney review any contract before your signature and that your insurance agent review the insurance requirements on that contract before the contract is finalized. Your insurance agent can advise what endorsements are available to you and if any specific endorsements need to be added to the policy for you to comply with these requirements. It is possible that the insurance policy cannot be amended to respond to specific requirements and you will have to advise the contract holder that they are not available.

For some of the following reasons we cannot issue an older version of the Accord form, modify the current form or complete a proprietary form that you might provide to us:

1. No insurer shown on the certificate is able to provide the cancellation notice you desire by endorsement. In Hawaii, you may cancel the policy at any time or the insurer has the right to cancel the policy for many reasons, including non-payment of premium.
2. For the reason just cited, if our agency were to issue a certificate that provides a cancellation clause, we would do so with the full knowledge that it would be impossible for the company or our agency to provide you with that amount of notice. This would be seen as misrepresentation or fraud.
3. Under the Accord Corporation licensing agreement, the prior editions of the certificate of insurance can be used for one year after the time the new forms are introduced. That time expired in 2010. Use of an older version would violate Accord's licensing agreement and as a copyrighted document, violate federal copyright law.
4. We are unable to modify the new certificate to add a notice of cancellation. As a copyrighted document, the form is designed to be completed and not altered. Our insurance company contract only allows us to issue the Accord certicate as issued.

We appreciate your understanding of the legal restrictions on our ability to issue an older certificate form, modify the current form, or complete a proprietary form that you might provide.