This is the first installment of our surety company reviews. We are starting with Western Surety Company, a subsidiary of CNA Surety, founded in 1986, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Why start with Western Surety? Simple. They are the largest provider of commercial surety bonds in the U.S.!

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Western Surety’s Success

Clearly there is a reason for Western Surety Company’s great success in the commercial bond market. So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why they are the top market for so many.

A Good Fit For All Agencies
They have over 700 employees on staff, a staggering amount relative to the surety industry. The staff not only includes management and underwriters, but in-house bond issuers. This is a great asset to smaller bond agencies or insurance based agencies that don’t have experience with bond issuance. Anyone who has ever issued a bond knows that one small incorrect detail and the bond could be rejected.

They also accommodate larger agencies like JW Surety Bonds. We have been working with Western surety since day 1. Fortunately for us and our clients, there will never be a day that we “outgrow” Western Surety Company, as they are a great fit for agencies of all sizes.

Fast Turnaround
From the agent’s perspective, Western Surety Company seems to have come close to perfecting the underwriting process. Their simplified underwriting allows for quicker turnaround than most underwriting departments, something I find more valuable than rate at times.

Strong Paper
While you don’t see as many commercials for Western Surety as you do for The Hartford Surety or Travelers Surety as of recent, I assure you it is a very financially sound bonding company.

Don’t take my word for it…

You can find their surety results posted to the surety associations using our agencies surety comparison tool: CNA Surety.

Their A.M. Best Rating is currently ‘A, Excellent’ as well as ‘Stable’. I don’t recall it ever being otherwise.

You can also find them on the Department of the Treasury’s Listing of Approved Sureties (Department Circular 570), a list of all Federally approved sureties.

Let’s Hear From Other Agents
What do you like about Western Surety? Are there any reasons we didn’t list that you feel make them a good match for your agency? What bonds do you primarily place with Western Surety?

Share your thoughts!

Recently we posted about our new surety company ranking tool. Due to the positive feedback within the surety community we have added additional functionality to the tool. Now you can see premium and ranking details for all years selected by surety. Graphs have also been added for ease of use. Here is an example using Liberty Mutual as the selected bonding company.

For the time being, the database has information on ranking and premium from 2006-2008. We are currently in the process of populating the database for years prior to 2006.

Bonding companies are ranked every year by how much premium they book. Our agency has compiled that data and made a tool to allow you to compare year to year. As of now, you can only look back to 2006, but we hope to add more history to it. You can use the Surety Ranking Tool for free.

So tell us what you think in the comment box below. Are any of the results surprising? Do you have any suggestions on how to make the tool more useful? Let us know!