Surety Bond News

Montana State introduced a new law relating to captive insurance companies. The new law, which is titled HB 160, authorizes a captive insurance company to write surety insurance. The law states that a pure captive has the option to write surety bonds for its parent and associated companies but only for its members if it is an association captive. The SFAA and AIA resisted this bill, but it is comparable to the laws of other states. The SFAA examined the law of Vermont, Hawaii and South Carolina, which are states that house the most U.S. captives and these laws allow captives to write almost all property-casualty lines, excluding auto, homeowners and workers’ compensation. The SFAA communicated with the Vermont captive association and the Vermont Insurance Department because Vermont is home to the most captives. The SFAA discovered that there are a very limited amount of captives in Vermont that have the ability to write surety bonds. The Insurance Department helped back the bill and the fact that other states allow captives to write surety bonds made the bill pass. HB 160 was activated on July 1st, 2009.

New legislation was enacted regarding charter school financial officers in the state of Missouri. The new law, which is referred to as SB 291 authorizes the chief financial officer of a charter school to acquire an insurance policy supplying coverage for employee thievery in place of the surety bond required under the present law. The policy quantity can be no less than $500,000. SB 291 became active upon enactment.

Mortgage loan originators are affected by a new bill that was presented in the state of Mississippi. The new law, which is labeled SB 2983, requires mortgage loan originators to be covered by a surety bond in a quantity that is calculated by the dollar amount of the loans originated. Should the loan originator be a member of staff or an agent of a licensee subject to this bonding requirement, coverage under the employer’s surety bond will satisfy the new bill’s stipulations. SB 2983 requires the surety bond to supply coverage for all originators. The new bill became active on July 31st, 2009.

In the state of Minnesota, sewage treatment contractors are impacted by a new law which is referred to as HB 1275. The new law requires sewage treatment contractors to acquire a $25,000 surety bond. The surety bond must cover both plumbing work and subsurface sewage treatment work. The present law requires a license bond in a minimum quantity of $10,000 for such contractors.

Mortgage loan originators are affected by a new Michigan state law which is referred to as SB 462. The new law requires mortgage loan originators to be licensed and to get their hands on a surety bond in an amount calculated by the dollar volume of loans that the originator closed in the preceding year. The surety bond would have to be in a quantity spanning from $25,000 to $100,000. The originators that happen to be the employee or agent of individuals that have supplied a surety bond to the Commissioner of the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation has the option to utilize the employer’s bond to satisfy the requirements in place of the surety bond from the originator.