This submit is a part of a collection sponsored by Outdated Republic Surety.
“We’ve focused tight turnaround instances from submission to approval utilizing Outdated Republic Surety’s (ORS) FastBond course of — the quicker, the higher,” says Todd Taylor, CPCU, AFSB.
As an ORS Bond Supervisor, Taylor has seen the favorable influence of FastBond, which has been out there for greater than 10 years. “We’ve managed to simplifythe bonding course of for brokers by providing limits as much as $1 million based mostly on credit score solely,” he says. “And since there’s no want for extra monetary data and no CPA required, that saves large time and trouble. Throughout the Quick Bond program, Outdated Republic Surety will think about non-residential completion bonds as much as $250,000 in bond penalty on credit-based underwriting. Increased limits might be thought-about with extra underwriting data.”
What if a consumer does require extra? Taylor explains that they’ll nonetheless use FastBond to safe as much as $2 million single or combination by including present company and private monetary statements to their utility — nonetheless no CPA involvement essential.
Taylor notes a latest uptick in FastBond exercise as properly. “We’ve got a historical past of writing accounts utilizing frequent sense underwriting, and Outdated Republic Surety is pleased with our partnership with brokers who write accounts that could be smaller or just have few or very rare bond wants. These are the sorts of accounts which can be an actual plus for thus many brokers. Though they might not qualify for our contract facet, they signify an actual mainstay of the development trade.”
Maintaining brokers aggressive
To remain forward of the curve and keep a management place in these smaller account markets, Outdated Republic Surety requests agent suggestions and displays trade circumstances. “As in different sectors, development prices have risen throughout the board, making the identical threat are available at a a lot greater value than it did just some years in the past,” Taylor says. “We’ve continued to regulate our limits as wanted to maintain tempo with these modifications, which is why we just lately elevated limits from $750,000 to $1 million based mostly on credit score. The FastBond utility is so simple as earlier than, however greater limits preserve our brokers aggressive, and so they can qualify bigger accounts with much less want for underwriting. Better of all, even at these greater limits, the fast turnaround continues to be attainable, which might be essential for successful a bid.”
As Taylor notes, contractors usually postpone tackling bond points till the top of a bid course of, and it’s common for them to attend in an agent’s workplace for bond approvals. “Bid time strain might be intense,” he says. “Our fast turnaround alleviates a few of this stress.”
Whereas many brokers are already comfy with the FastBond utility course of, the ORS workforce is able to leap in and supply steering for any brokers who’re simply getting began in bonds or who would possibly need assistance with the primary few functions. “We will velocity up the educational curve and double-check their work till they’re comfy doing an utility on their very own,” Taylor says, “However as a result of the shape is so easy and the bond is primarily credit-based or solely requires present monetary statements for greater quantities, most brokers develop into adept fairly shortly.” He provides that Outdated Republic Surety may present a bond-ability or pre-qualification letter if that’s a requirement earlier than any formal bonding. “We’re all the time blissful to confirm {that a} subcontractor can qualify for a bond if that’s all they want as a way to submit a bid,” he says.
FastBond will also be a useful stepping-stone for brokers who wish to assist their purchasers transition into bigger initiatives. “Few purchasers are capable of leap to a typical bond program in a single day, and a few simply don’t wish to make the extra required investments, like CPA involvement,” Taylor says. “With FastBond, the upper limits assist brokers preserve extra of their rising accounts till they’re able to graduate to our contract facet.”
FastBond benefits
Whereas Taylor considers the upper limits, fast turnaround and straightforward utility course of amongst FastBond’s main advantages, he additionally highlights their bond availability in all 50 states and their consideration of all development trades. “This can be a resolution that’s best for shorter period initiatives in that candy spot of $1 million to $2 million, however now we have loads of flexibility to debate variations,” he says. “Even when a job is projected to be barely greater, we wish brokers to name us; we’re all the time keen to debate the underwriting specifics and dig into the small print of a mission to succeed in an approval. Outdated Republic Surety has all the time based mostly our bond approvals on extra than simply the spreadsheet numbers.”
Taylor provides that the corporate will proceed to judge and regulate FastBond as wanted. One latest enchancment is the addition of safe DocuSign digital signatures for functions. Different workflow options are in fixed assessment.
“Providing a extra streamlined bonding course of for smaller exposures is among the greatest methods to broaden alternatives for our brokers,” he says. “And Outdated Republic has actually supported our efforts to enhance small account servicing. In any case, extra bonds imply extra progress, and simply because a bond could also be thought-about small by trade requirements or a consumer has an rare want, they’re nonetheless a necessity. We’re right here to make getting them as simple as attainable for our brokers.”
This weblog was initially revealed on the Outdated Republic Surety web site. It’s reproduced right here with permission.
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