Featured Event

Surety Bonding

How to Obtain a Bond

Small Contractors Program
 

Companies that require bonds of less than $450,000 have many options. Many of the surety companies have one to two page applications that require no financial statements or documents, and therefore, require a limited amount of time to complete. If your company needs a Bid Bond or Payment and Performance Bond and the amount requested is less than $450,000, contact us and we will forward the appropriate application to you. In less than 24 hours your surety broker or agent can provide a response, and once you receive approval from the Surety company, your surety agent or broker can have a bond issued to you within 2-3 days. It is that simple!

The Application Process is as follows:

  1. Fill out the application - This will include basic questions on how long your company has been in business, personal information of all owners and spouses, current cash balances for bank accounts, type of projects you have completed and a few other items of information.
  2. Send the application to your agent or broker.
  3. Surety agent/broker submits the application to the Surety/underwriting company.
  4. Await a response - most of the time we receive a reply the same day.
  5. After an approval is received, you sign the General Indemnity Agreement (if necessary).
  6. Any requests for Bid Bonds or Final Bonds are then issued to your company.
Limitations Associated with these Programs:

These types of programs have guidelines as to the types of projects they will accept or "bond". Most of the guidelines prohibit projects that have a duration of more than 12 months, have any exposure to asbestos or toxic materials, projects that are performed in, on, near or under water, and other such exclusions. In addition, these programs will not accept a company that has a bond still "open" or pending with a different surety company.

Some of these programs will not accept companies where the credit scores of the owners, principals or spouses are below a certain range, if there is a bankruptcy, tax lien or judgment outstanding against any owner or principal, or if the company has been in existence for less than one year.