Bonding
Paragon Insurance Service, Inc. has an entire Bond Department dedicated to providing Surety Bonds for your every need. We have multiple bonding options which can place bonds as varied as multi-million dollar Superfund project bonds to small construction bonds for a brand-new contractor. Although we specialize in Environmental and Contractor bonds, we have the capabilities to handle nearly every bond need you could have, except for bail bonds.
Here is just an example of the kinds of bonds we write:
- Performance and Payment bonds
- Bid Bonds
- Closure and Post-Closure bonds
- ERISA bonds
- Code Compliance bonds
- Superfund Site Project bonds
- Fast Track bonds ($250,000 single / $500,000 maximum with little underwriting)
What is a surety bond?
A surety bond is a third party guarantee. All bonds, in some fashion, are collateralized. Most contractors only have to sign an indemnity agreement which promises that the contractor (and their spouse) will pay back the surety for any losses that may occur on any bonded job. It is unlike Insurance in that Insurance anticipates losses, and bonding does not. Companies requesting difficult to place bonds, and new contractors, may have to put up an Irrevocable Letter of Credit in addition to the indemnity agreement. Every case is underwritten individually, and rarely are two companies bonded in the same way.
How Can I Get Bonded?
Paragon knows the current bonding marketplace, and will know what markets are best suited for your bonding needs. In order to fully evaluate what market would be best for your company, Bond Submission packets are completed and provided to the underwriters at the various companies that match your needs and capabilities. This is what is needed to start the process for construction bonds:
- Contractors Questionnaire and Forms Packet (link to bond app here)
- Current Work On Hand Schedule (in Forms Packet)
- Three years CPA prepared year end financial statements
- Most recent in-house statement
- Aging of Accounts Receivables to go with in-house statement
- Personal Financial Statement on all owners ( a form is included in forms packet, if you need it)
- Letter from bank detailing your line of credit (Amount, Amount in use, Terms and conditions, Exp. Date)
Not all companies are able to provide all of this information. Often times, a company that has never needed bonding will not have a CPA statement. It is possible to work around this at times, but basically, all bonded companies (except for Fast Track bonding) must provide a CPA prepared review annually.
Christine Ford, our Bond Manager has been with Paragon Insurance for 17 years as Bond Manager, and had 7 years Environmental bonding experience with an Insurance Company prior to coming to Paragon. She will know what markets suits you best from looking over the questionnaire and most recent financials. She is very accessible and enjoys helping companies new to bonding get started, including explaining what bonds do, why they are important, and why they can be hard to get.