This put up is a part of a sequence 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 quicker, the higher,” says Todd Taylor, CPCU, AFSB.
As an ORS Bond Supervisor, Taylor has seen the favorable impression of FastBond, which has been accessible for greater than 10 years. “We’ve managed to simplifythe bonding course of for brokers by providing limits as much as $1 million primarily based on credit score solely,” he says. “And since there’s no want for added monetary info and no CPA required, that saves large time and trouble. Inside 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. Increased limits may be thought of with extra underwriting info.”
What if a consumer does require extra? Taylor explains that they will nonetheless use FastBond to safe as much as $2 million single or mixture by including present company and private monetary statements to their utility — nonetheless no CPA involvement crucial.
Taylor notes a latest uptick in FastBond exercise as effectively. “We have now a historical past of writing accounts utilizing frequent sense underwriting, and Previous Republic Surety is happy 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 could not qualify for our contract facet, they characterize an actual mainstay of the development trade.”
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 screens trade situations. “As in different sectors, building prices have risen throughout the board, making the identical threat are available in at a a lot larger 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 not too long ago elevated limits from $750,000 to $1 million primarily based on credit score. The FastBond utility is so simple as earlier than, however larger limits hold our brokers aggressive, they usually can qualify bigger accounts with much less want for underwriting. Better of all, even at these larger limits, the fast turnaround remains to be doable, which may be essential for profitable 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 may be intense,” he says. “Our fast turnaround alleviates a few of this stress.”
Whereas many brokers are already snug with the FastBond utility course of, the ORS workforce is able to bounce in and supply steerage for any brokers who’re simply getting began in bonds or who may need assistance with the primary few functions. “We are able to velocity up the training curve and double-check their work till they’re snug doing an utility on their very own,” Taylor says, “However as a result of the shape is so simple and the bond is primarily credit-based or solely requires current monetary statements for larger quantities, most brokers change into adept fairly shortly.” He provides that Previous Republic Surety also can present a bond-ability or pre-qualification letter if that’s a requirement earlier than any formal bonding. “We’re all the time glad to confirm {that a} subcontractor can qualify for a bond if that’s all they want in an effort to submit a bid,” he says.
FastBond can be a useful stepping-stone for brokers who wish to assist their purchasers transition into bigger initiatives. “Few purchasers are in a position to bounce to a regular 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 hold 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 simple utility course of amongst FastBond’s main advantages, he additionally highlights their bond availability in all 50 states and their consideration of all building trades. “It is a answer that’s supreme for shorter length initiatives in that candy spot of $1 million to $2 million, however we have now loads of flexibility to debate variations,” he says. “Even when a job is projected to be barely larger, we wish brokers to name us; we’re all the time prepared to debate the underwriting specifics and dig into the small print of a challenge to succeed in an approval. Previous Republic Surety has all the time primarily based 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 functions. 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 any case, extra bonds imply extra progress, and simply because a bond could also be thought of 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 doable for our brokers.”
This weblog was initially revealed on the Old Republic Surety website. It’s reproduced right here with permission.
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