This put up is a part of a collection sponsored by Previous Republic Surety.
“We’ve focused tight turnaround instances from submission to approval utilizing Previous Republic Surety’s (ORS) FastBond course of — the sooner, the higher,” says Todd Taylor, CPCU, AFSB.
As an ORS Bond Supervisor, Taylor has seen the favorable impression of FastBond, which has been obtainable 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 added monetary data and no CPA required, that saves large time and trouble. Throughout the Quick Bond program, Previous Republic Surety will contemplate non-residential completion bonds as much as $250,000 in bond penalty on credit-based underwriting. Larger limits will be thought of with extra underwriting data.”
What if a shopper 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 obligatory.
Taylor notes a latest uptick in FastBond exercise as effectively. “We’ve got a historical past of writing accounts utilizing frequent sense underwriting, and Previous 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 aspect, they characterize an actual mainstay of the development business.”
Retaining brokers aggressive
To remain forward of the curve and preserve a management place in these smaller account markets, Previous Republic Surety requests agent suggestions and displays business circumstances. “As in different sectors, development prices have risen throughout the board, making the identical threat are available in at a a lot greater value than it did only a few years in the past,” Taylor says. “We’ve continued to regulate our limits as wanted to maintain tempo with these adjustments, 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 hold 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 doable, which will be essential for successful a bid.”
As Taylor notes, contractors usually postpone tackling bond points till the tip of a bid course of, and it’s commonplace for them to attend in an agent’s workplace for bond approvals. “Bid time stress will 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 crew is able to leap in and supply steering for any brokers who’re simply getting began in bonds or who may need assistance with the primary few purposes. “We are able to 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 current monetary statements for greater quantities, most brokers turn into adept fairly shortly.” He provides that Previous Republic Surety may also present a bond-ability or pre-qualification letter if that’s a requirement earlier than any formal bonding. “We’re at all times blissful to confirm {that a} subcontractor can qualify for a bond if that’s all they want to be able to submit a bid,” he says.
FastBond will also be a useful stepping-stone for brokers who need to assist their purchasers transition into bigger initiatives. “Few purchasers are in a position to leap to an ordinary bond program in a single day, and a few simply don’t need to make the extra required investments, like CPA involvement,” Taylor says. “With FastBond, the upper limits assist brokers hold extra of their rising accounts till they’re able to graduate to our contract aspect.”
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. “It is a answer that’s superb for shorter length initiatives in that candy spot of $1 million to $2 million, however we’ve 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 at all times keen to debate the underwriting specifics and dig into the small print of a undertaking to achieve an approval. Previous Republic Surety has at all times based mostly our bond approvals on extra than simply the spreadsheet numbers.”
Taylor provides that the corporate will proceed to guage and regulate FastBond as wanted. One latest enchancment is the addition of safe DocuSign digital signatures for purposes. Different workflow options are in fixed evaluate.
“Providing a extra streamlined bonding course of for smaller exposures is without doubt one of the finest methods to develop alternatives for our brokers,” he says. “And Previous Republic has actually supported our efforts to enhance small account servicing. In spite of everything, extra bonds imply extra progress, and simply because a bond could also be thought of small by business requirements or a shopper has an rare want, they’re nonetheless a necessity. We’re right here to make getting them as straightforward as doable for our brokers.”
For extra information from Previous Republic Surety, please go to https://www.orsurety.com/weblog.
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