Surety Bonds – Ireland’s only specialist surety & bonds intermediary
From 2008 to 2013 many surety providers moved to reduce their exposure or exited the Irish market altogether the upshot being bonding capacity was none existent and with the reluctance of banks to support contractors during this crucial time this meant that construction literally ground to a halt.
Surety Bonds Ireland’s only specialist surety & bonds intermediary entered the market in 2012, it was set up to help solve bonding capacity issues for contractors. Our mission was to make the process of providing bonds easier and to open up to clients and brokers markets that they previously did not have access to.
The experience and expertise within the company helps take the hard work out of obtaining bonds as we deal with all regulated providers of bonds and guarantees.
As independent Surety specialists our expertise lies in bonds and guarantees only and we do not undertake any general insurance business. Our clients find this extremely comforting as we will only ever be completely focused on the bond requirements. Likewise, if you are a general insurance broker you will find that using our services will enhance the work you are able to undertake for your clients as you will then be able to offer them a complete range of services thereby protecting your account.
Surety Bonds help their clients to maximize their bonding capacity in numerous ways. By having a deep knowledge of the client’s business and what they are trying to achieve, that can be presented to the underwriters, we give more context than a mere set of accounts and application form. Surety Bonds complete full credit checks on behalf of the client & present an overall risk profile of the client to the surety, we present the case in a way the underwriter wants to see it.
Ultimately your bonding capacity is a reflection of your financial strength, financial reporting, management team strength and how it is presented to a bonding company. The benefit of using a bonding broker who specialises in providing bonds to contractors is an experienced bonding broker will help you organise your financials and present them to bonding companies in the best manner possible. Often, presentation and accuracy are as important as the financial numbers. There are different ways to maximize your bonding capacity often we can suggest creative ways to increase your capacity like covenants, set-aside funds or joint ventures. The bottom-line is that you will get bonds based on how much liquid assets you maintain in your company. The more you have, the larger your bonding capacity will grow. Given that not all providers will be interested in every enquiry, our knowledge allows us to target those companies and underwriters who we know will be interested in offering terms. This saves the broker and their client valuable time and usually enables us to obtain terms speedily
While we have seen new entrants to the market providing more than adequate capacity which is good news as the commercial sector in particular bounces back, they are not there as provider of last resort, or to provide solutions for overly distressed balance sheets. Contractors who want to be ahead of the game should embrace the requirements of sureties, it will reap rewards in the medium to long term. Contractors who can obtain bonding facilities have an immediate competitive advantage over other contractors.
Our best advice in relation to bonding is that it needs to be deemed as a strategic product by contractors, they should engage with a bonding broker who specialises in providing bonds to contractors. Some insurance brokers offer bonds as an add-on service to their insurance business but are not experts in bonding. An experienced bonding broker will help them organise their financials and present them to bonding companies in the best manner possible. There are different ways to maximize bonding capacity often a specialist broker can suggest creative ways to increase capacity.
Surety Bonds can obtain an array of bonds & bond facilities including, Performance Bonds (conditional & on-demand), Duty / VAT Deferment Bonds, Tenant Default, Advance Payment Bonds, Reinstatement Bonds, Retention Bonds, Road & Sewer Bonds, Infrastructure Bonds, Supplier Bonds. There are also many niche unusual risks that surety providers will consider such as TFS, EPA and guarantees for mergers and acquisitions.
Surety Bonds can also provide bonds for Irish companies operating in Europe, Nordics and US.