IEDA Podcast · July 2026
Make it easy for customers to rent from you
Justin Leslie of Evident and Jamie Luminais of Sunstate Equipment joined IEDA host Kim Phelan to talk about the certificate of insurance check at the rental counter, why it so often slows checkout or gets skipped, and what changes when verification runs automatically.
Justin Leslie
VP of Sales, Evident
Jamie Luminais
VP of Enterprise Applications, Sunstate Equipment
Kim Phelan
IEDA Podcast host
The episode
Two people who have seen the COI problem up close
Jamie Luminais has spent 20 years leading the technology teams behind heavy equipment rental, most of that time at H&E Equipment. She is now Vice President of Enterprise Applications at Sunstate Equipment. Her work has centered on making it easy for customers to do business at every step, including clearer upfront quotes that remove surprise charges.
Justin Leslie is VP of Sales at Evident and works with rental operators of every size, from very large rental companies to one-location dealers. In the July 2026 episode of the IEDA Podcast, the two talked with host Kim Phelan, IEDA's marketing director, about what really happens when a customer hands over a COI, and why verification is a good job to give to technology.
IEDA Podcast
Justin Leslie & Jamie Luminais: Make It Easy for Customers to Rent from You
Episode 70 · July 24, 2026 · 40 min
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTubeEpisode links
- Justin Leslie on LinkedInVP of Sales, Evident (opens in a new tab)
- Jamie Luminais on LinkedInVP of Enterprise Applications, Sunstate Equipment (opens in a new tab)
- Email Justinjustin@evidentid.com
- Evident for equipment rentalAutomated COI verification for rental counters
- IEDA GroupMembership and resources for independent dealers (opens in a new tab)
- All IEDA Podcast episodesMonthly conversations with industry guests (opens in a new tab)
Key takeaways
6 takeaways from the episode
The short version of the conversation, with who said what.
01–02
Why so many renters fall short
Most coverage problems are honest gaps, and many appear after the rental starts.
- 01
Most renters are out of compliance, and fraud is rarely why
Kim cited a figure from Evident's article The Quiet Rewrite of the Rental Playbook: over 75% of rental customers fail to meet insurance requirements at the time of rental. Justin said that matches what dealers find when they start collecting and tracking insurance with Evident. Fraud happens, but it is a small share. The bigger problem is general liability limits below the dealer's requirement and equipment coverage worth far less than the machine.
The takeaway: Check limits against the value of the machine going out, not just whether a certificate exists.
- 02
Coverage changes after the contract is signed
Jamie said the most common problem by volume at H&E was lapsed insurance. A customer once had adequate coverage, the certificate was never renewed, and the rental system didn't reflect it. Justin added that some renters lower their limits or cancel coverage mid-rental to save money. Without ongoing monitoring, the dealer finds out when a loss happens.
The takeaway: A certificate that was good on day one needs to stay checked for as long as the equipment is out.
03–04
What happens at the rental counter
Counter staff are measured on getting equipment out the door, not on reading insurance forms.
- 03
Counter staff aren't insurance experts
Justin pointed out that the person at the counter is trained to rent equipment. When a contractor hands over a page that says COI on it, the box gets checked. Jamie added that certificates use terms like aggregate limits and inland marine, the wording varies from one to the next, and many still arrive later by email or even fax.
The takeaway: Don't ask salespeople to make coverage decisions they were never trained to make.
- 04
A coverage gap can become damage waiver revenue
When an automated check finds missing equipment coverage, Justin said, the counter conversation gets simple: this rental needs a damage waiver to go out. He said dealers typically charge around 15% of the rental for it, give or take a couple of points, and it is high-margin revenue.
The takeaway: Treat every coverage gap as a damage waiver decision, made the same way every time.
“The gap in your insurance verification isn't just risk sitting on your balance sheet. It's revenue sitting on the table. Once you see it in real time, you get to choose what it becomes.”
Justin LeslieVP of Sales, Evident05–06
Making it easy for customers
Clear requirements and self-service take the counter out of the paperwork.
- 05
Add the waiver first, and verify fast enough to remove it
Jamie described the policy most dealers follow: no machine leaves without protection. The damage waiver goes on the contract as a placeholder and comes off if the customer proves coverage. Many of the post-invoice credits she saw were for these waivers, which delays payment and raises days sales outstanding (DSO). Verifying the certificate before the invoice runs avoids most of them.
The takeaway: The sooner coverage is verified, the fewer credits and invoice corrections you issue.
- 06
Standard requirements and self-service make renting easier
At H&E, Jamie's team first aligned its insurance requirements with what other rental companies publish, because customers don't want unique rules at every shop, and explained them in plain language. New accounts then got a link to upload their certificate. Customers received renewal reminders, and if coverage expired, the damage waiver started at that moment, not at the next transaction.
The takeaway: Make customers responsible for keeping coverage current, and give them a simple way to do it.
For rental operators
See what verification looks like at your counter
Evident checks each renter's certificate against your requirements before equipment leaves the yard, and flags gaps for a damage waiver.