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Does anyone know who writes these bonds? Thanks

Any surety bond company should be able to help place a Performance Bond.

Thanks. I am thinking of getting into this niche... I wonder if there are any classes specifically on Construction Bonds

This is a niche of the market that is pretty well served already by the standard market. You may want to get appointed with a few of them, especially if you do alot of Construction GL, but keep in mind the price is pretty low, so it would be hard to make a living if you are only writing the bond. If you can round out the account with the bond, that's a much better way to go.

Actually, I know a number of bond brokers that do very well for themselves only selling the bond. In fact, many of the serious bond brokers stay away from P&C all together. InsAgentSF, you should look into the NASBP (National Association of Surety Bond Producers) as they have a school for training on bonds. I believe the next one is in January in Dallas.

I'm going with Risky Steve on this one. Bond brokers/agents can make quite a bit of money in the construction field. Yes the "permit" type of bonds are low premium but they also only take about 3 minutes to issue and can lead you in to the larger arena, the payment and or performance type bonds etc. This is where your larger money will be. And don't limit yourself to construction only!

Most small to mid size agencies don't mess with any type of bond other than Notary as they are nervous not feeling that they know what to do and so since they do come far and few between they refer to an agency who specailizes in them.

As far as classes, you have several options. One is to appoint with the various bonding companies (and you also need to have one that isn't super strict on the background financials for when you run into a bump) and then most of the bonding companies will offer classes or even let you have time with an underwriter when needed to understand, submit and issue bonds.

Other options are for you to attend Ruble seminars and things of that nature (look under Tha National Alliance or contact your local Big I or PIA and ask).

Last but not least, presuming you do not presently own your own agency, go to work for a bonding company or agency, get your background and knowledge to be sure it's what you want to do then move on to your own gig down the road. Experience came at their expense and not yours.

Thank you guys!! I appreciate the feedback.

Sundance wrote:I'm going with Risky Steve on this one. Bond brokers/agents can make quite a bit of money in the construction field.

I am one of two owners of a surety bond only agency. We have considered venturing into insurance, but decided it was too competitive (and we don't know enough about it!) to be profitable for us.

Sundance wrote: Yes the "permit" type of bonds are low premium but they also only take about 3 minutes to issue and can lead you in to the larger arena, the payment and or performance type bonds etc. This is where your larger money will be. And don't limit yourself to construction only!

Actually, the rates have jumped considerably on many commercial permit bond types. Rates can be anywhere from 1-20%, which can make a $10,000 bond quite profitable!

Our agency is the only to offer online approvals for these bonds. You can register as a broker with our agency if you'd like at: http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/apply_broker.php

Sundance wrote:Most small to mid size agencies don't mess with any type of bond other than Notary as they are nervous not feeling that they know what to do and so since they do come far and few between they refer to an agency who specailizes in them.

As far as classes, you have several options. One is to appoint with the various bonding companies (and you also need to have one that isn't super strict on the background financials for when you run into a bump) and then most of the bonding companies will offer classes or even let you have time with an underwriter when needed to understand, submit and issue bonds.

Other options are for you to attend Ruble seminars and things of that nature (look under Tha National Alliance or contact your local Big I or PIA and ask).

Last but not least, presuming you do not presently own your own agency, go to work for a bonding company or agency, get your background and knowledge to be sure it's what you want to do then move on to your own gig down the road. Experience came at their expense and not yours.

It is difficult to learn the bond business without diving right into it. Our agency deals with a lot of brokers that simply do not have the markets or the expertise to write surety bonds. However, usually after working with us for a bit, they get to know the game a bit better and start to place the easier classes of business directly. We have done it with numerous brokers over the years.

You may want to do a google search to find other bond only agencies, I don't want to make it seem like we are the only agency in the game. We are just the quickest and easiest to work with!

Does this forum put out new content? IT seems to be a great source of information. https://nfpsurety.com/blog/california-c ... ense-bond/