As a contractor in the state of Illinois, you will most likely run into a few, if not several, Surety Bond requirements. This should not worry you. While Surety Bonds can be a confusing line of insurance, for Illinois Contractors it can be quite a straightforward process. Many city and county municipalities will require the Surety Bond in order for you to obtain a license or permit to do work in that specific city or county. This means that you could possibly run into multiple cities or counties that have this as a requirement. One might think that you just buy one Surety Bond and you can use it for all of them right? Unfortunately that is not the case, as the Bonds are specific to each municipality that requires them, so the Bond you bought for The Village of Forest Park, will not be accepted by the City of North Chicago. When this happens, you should not worry too much. Even though for most contractors there is not a statewide Contractors Surety Bond, the Bonds for the municipalities are generally very inexpensive.
That takes us into the meat and potatoes of what everyone wants to know, how much will this cost me? As stated above they are usually very affordable, a policy will typically run around $50 to $125 for a one-year term. They generally do not require a credit check like other Surety Bonds, this is commonly referred to as “freely written,” meaning it does not go through underwriting. If you plan on doing work in a specific city/county for more than one year, you can usually purchase the Bond on a multiple year term and you will see some cost savings for extending the term.
These bonds can be taken care of over the phone in less than a ten minute conversation. You will just want to make sure you have the basic company information such as legal business name, address and contact information. Accuracy of the company information on your Bond is very important, if you do not match the name exactly how you filed your business name legally and how you are applying for the license/permit it could be denied by the municipality. The bonds are usually emailed and the electronic copy can be utilized to provide documentation to the municipality, but some do require original documentation. I always recommend asking how they would like you to file the Surety Bond to ensure there will not be any unexpected delays.
If you have an Illinois Contractors Surety Bond requirement or if you have questions, about Bonds feel free to call our agency and we will be happy to assist you with your Bonding needs.