Surety Bonds

License and Permit Bonds for Artisan Contractors

Artisan contractors must obtain permits before performing certain types of projects and often must be licensed in order to operate. Many municipalities require surety bonds to support the promises made to obtain such license or permit. In addition, contractors who perform work for government entities often are required to supply a variety of contract bonds. In a growing number of cases, even some private industry clients are requiring bonds that guarantee performance.

Claims Scenario: A contractor has a License and Permit Bond for the City of Dallas as an Electrical Contractor, and they are hired by a homeowner to do Electrical rewiring. The contractor understands the City Codes for electrical work, but decides to complete the work knowing it is not up to code. The homeowner is then told the electrical work is not up to code, and they would then seek damages from that contractors bond, which can be up to the bond amount (typically $5,000-$25,000 depending on the cities bond amount requirements).

License and permit bonds are easy to obtain and in most cases are issued instantly. If your project or business requires a license or permit bond, contact us today!

      Smaller Contract Bonds

Contract Bonds are required for most contracted jobs and must be filed with the project owner. These bonds will protect the project owner from damages resulting from a contractor failing to perform their duties within that contract. Typically, there will be a Bid Bond required to allow the contractor to bid on the contracted job. Once the contractor is awarded the contract, the will be required to secure a Final Contract Bond, commonly known as a Payment and Performance Bond, in order to enter into the contract.

The Fast Bond Program is designed for small and emerging contractors who need occasional quick access to fast turn projects. With credit based underwriting for limits up to $750K, and Financial Information for those in the $750K to $1.5MM, this program makes for a streamlined and efficient way to obtain your contract bonds.

Claims Scenario: Performance bond claims are caused by the inability of a contractor to perform the work agreed in a contract bond. A contractor’s inability to complete the job may be caused by financial issues such as bankruptcy, taking on too many jobs at one time causing them to be unable to complete all of the work on hand, and lack of proper equipment and laborers.

Once there is a breach of contract such as one of the above scenarios, the project owner can declare contractor default and file a claim against the bond. The scenarios vary on a case to case basis, but the contract should always spell out in the contract. Payment bond claims are caused by contractor failure to pay subcontractors, laborers and material suppliers in a timely manner as agreed in the contract. When this occurs, any of these parties may file a claim against the payment bond and request payment.

       Business Service Bonds

A Business Services Bond will provide you with protection against financial liability for the loss of your customer’s money, securities, and personal property caused by dishonest acts of your employees while on your customer’s premises upon conviction. Losses can be caused by any employee, and often times, the ones you know and trust. The costs for this protection is very reasonable, and allows you and your customer’s piece of mind knowing this protection is in place, and can be the ultimate decision maker in consumers choices in choosing who they place their Business with. In order to protect you and your employees against unjustified allegations of dishonesty, the employee must be convicted of the alleged dishonesty before coverage would apply.

Claims Scenario: You are a subcontractor. On the job site, your employee notices some electronic equipment he could use. When no one is looking, he puts it in a box and takes it out to his truck. The employee would need to be convicted by the court before a claim would be paid.

Business Services Bonds start as low as $100.00 a year and can be written on a three-year term at a discounted rate.

Call one of our agents for more information or to check eligibility and pricing