In 1849, the State of New York was the first to pass an insurance law in the United States. Shortly thereafter, in 1851,the first insurance regulator was created in New Hampshire. Ever since then, trends and preferences in risk management have oscillated between different ideas. One of those ideas is payment and billing.
Agency Billed
Decades ago most insurance agencies handled nearly all of the payment, billing, and collections for any bonds or policies sold. When a bond was written, the agent invoiced customer and collected payment. If left unpaid, it was the agencies task to track down the debtor and collect. Either way, most agents still owed the insurance carrier for premium due, whether collected from the client or not. This is called agency billed.
Direct Billed
Today, most bonding companies and agents prefer direct billing. When a bond is written, agent might collect initial payment, but subsequent payments are billed to the principal directly by the bonding company. If unpaid, the bonding company handles collections either internally or through an outside collection agency. This is called carrier billed.
There are many advantages of carrier billing for all involved:
- All parties have record of payment
- Credit card and electronic check processing fees covered by bonding company
- Generally speaking, bonding company will have more staff to handle billing
Money and billing causes more hassle for all involved
From a customers point of view, you want the lowest cost for your bonds. To get the best price, that means direct bill because billing and collections costs the agency money. When an agency handles these tasks, you’re more likely to see additional consumer fees charged over and above bond premium.
Things can go awry with agency billed accounts. There have been agents that collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in premium from bond principals but never paid the bonding company.
Prepayment is required
Our agency only works with bonding companies who offer carrier billing. In an age where finding good employees is difficult if not impossible, we use our resources to do what we do best: help the customer. All of our agency staff is for front end sales and ongoing customer service, not billing. Most insurance carriers who are direct bill require prepayment. This is why we require prepayment on probate court bonds.
How to get an estate bond or trustee bond
Our agency issues more probate court bonds in a week than most agents do in a year. We offer online applications, quick response times, and the best pricing available. Apply online for a probate court bond or Download PDF Probate Court Bond Application.
