This submit is a part of a collection sponsored by Outdated Republic Surety.
“We’ve focused tight turnaround instances from submission to approval utilizing Outdated Republic Surety’s (ORS) FastBond course of — the quicker, the higher,” says Todd Taylor, CPCU, AFSB.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 added monetary info and no CPA required, that saves super time and trouble. Throughout the Quick Bond program, Outdated Republic Surety will take into account non-residential completion bonds as much as $250,000 in bond penalty on credit-based underwriting. Increased limits will 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 combination by including present company and private monetary statements to their software — nonetheless no CPA involvement needed.
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 “We’ve got a historical past of writing accounts utilizing frequent sense underwriting, and Outdated Republic Surety is pleased with our partnership with brokers who write accounts which may be smaller or just have few or very rare bond wants. These are the sorts of accounts which can be an actual plus for therefore many brokers. Though they might not qualify for our contract aspect, they symbolize 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To remain forward of the curve and preserve a management place in these smaller account markets, Outdated Republic Surety requests agent suggestions and displays trade situations. “As in different sectors, development prices have risen throughout the board, making the identical danger are available in at a a lot larger 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 not too long ago elevated limits from $750,000 to $1 million based mostly on credit score. The FastBond software 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 attainable, which will be essential for profitable a bid.”
As Taylor notes, contractors typically postpone tackling bond points till the top of a bid course of, and it’s commonplace for them to attend in an agent’s workplace for bond approvals. “Bid time strain will be intense,” he says. “Our fast turnaround alleviates a few of this stress.”
Whereas many brokers are already comfy with the FastBond software course of, the ORS crew is able to bounce in and supply steerage for any brokers who’re simply getting began in bonds or who would possibly need assistance with the primary few functions. “We are able to pace up the training curve and double-check their work till they’re comfy doing an software 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 larger quantities, most brokers turn into adept fairly shortly.” He provides that Outdated Republic Surety also can present a bond-ability or pre-qualification letter if that’s a requirement earlier than any formal bonding. “We’re at all times joyful to confirm {that a} subcontractor can qualify for a bond if that’s all they want with a view to submit a bid,” he says.
FastBond may also be a useful stepping-stone for brokers who wish to assist their purchasers transition into bigger tasks. “Few purchasers are capable of bounce to a normal 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 aspect.”
FastBond benefits
Whereas Taylor considers the upper limits, fast turnaround and straightforward software 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 excellent for shorter period tasks in that candy spot of $1 million to $2 million, however we now have loads of flexibility to debate variations,” he says. “Even when a job is projected to be barely larger, we would like brokers to name us; we’re at all times keen to debate the underwriting specifics and dig into the main points of a challenge to achieve an approval. Outdated 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 functions. Different workflow options are in fixed overview.
“Providing a extra streamlined bonding course of for smaller exposures is likely one of the finest methods to develop alternatives for our brokers,” he says. “And Outdated Republic has actually supported our efforts to enhance small account servicing. In spite of everything, extra bonds imply extra development, 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 attainable for our brokers.”
For extra information from Outdated Republic Surety, please go to https://www.orsurety.com/weblog.
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