A guarantee to the obligee that the principal will fulfill an obligation or series of obligations. In the event the principal fails to do so, the obligee will recover from the surety bond. The surety, through the indemnity agreement, will expect reimbursement from the principal.

The Performance Bond guarantees to the owner/obligee that you will perform the work as per the terms of your contract. If you do not perform, the obligee may put you default and ask the surety to remedy. The options of the surety at that point are determined by the terms in the bond and your contract. The Payment Bond guarantees that you will pay your suppliers and subcontractors as per the terms of the applicable statute or terms of the Payment Bond. Depending on the bond form, this coverage may extend to tiers below your direct suppliers or subcontractors. If these vendors make proper claim on the Payment Bond, the surety may be required to pay these vendors directly. What differentiates a surety bond from insurance is that you are required to sign an indemnity agreement that states that if the surety incurs expenses or loss as a result of providing a bond for you, they expect that you will repay the surety. The terms of the indemnity agreement and State law dictate when or how the surety might pursue repayment.

 It is similar to applying for a bank loan. It gets more complicated if you need a large bond. If you need a bond under $750,000, we often can get it approved with minimal information if you have clean personal credit. For larger bond programs, we will need financial and company background in order to underwrite your character, ability, and financial condition. How much information do we need? Best to give us a call and we’ll try to make it as simple as can. The process can be very fast, but it’s best if you discuss the pros and cons of various options so you do what’s best for you. 

Premiums vary from Client to Client depending on the type of bond, quality of financials & surety company. Bid bonds are usually free. There is usually just one charge for a combined Performance & Payment Bond. Depending on circumstances, these rates can average to be less than 0.5% of the contract price up to about 3% of the contract price. We would be happy to review your situation and let you know what rates you might be able to use, and further, tell you what you could do in the future to obtain lower rates in the future.

Usually. Our team is creative and resourceful and if we can't get it done, it likely can't be done. We will need to dig into the cause of the credit issues (medical bills, foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce, etc.) so we can figure out the best Surety match. Ultimately, our goal is to help you obtain bonds while you work towards repairing your credit.