AL service contract provider bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.

Alabama registers service contract providers with the Commissioner of Insurance, and one of the three ways to prove financial responsibility is a funded reserve plus a financial security deposit held in trust — a surety bond of at least $25,000, or 5% of your aggregate provider fees less claims paid, whichever is greater. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. Enter the amount your filing requires and your exact price appears at the application.

Filed with the Alabama Department of Insurance as the security deposit under Ala. Code § 8-32-3(f)(2)
Amount is the greater of $25,000 or 5% of aggregate provider fees less claims paid — you enter the figure your filing requires
Priced at 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — exact price before you pay, soft pull only
From $1001% of the bond amount, $100 minimumSoft pull onlynever a hard inquiryInstantissued the moment you pay
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NYCEDC
BDG
Capital
McKinney
Terra
JLL
Triple Five
Georgetown
How it works

Apply to filed in one sitting.

There is no underwriting queue for the standard service contract deposit — enter your amount, pay, and file it with your registration. Here is the whole thing:

TODAY · ONLINE

Apply online

Provider details, the deposit amount your registration requires, and an effective date. That is the entire application — no financial statements to assemble, no reserve schedule to attach.

INSTANTLY

Pay & e-sign

Most applications approve and issue the moment you pay. If a review ever runs on a large deposit amount, it is a soft pull that never touches your score.

SAME DAY

File with the Department

Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email on the Department's Service Contract Provider Surety Bond form, ready to file with your initial registration or your annual renewal in Montgomery. Wet-ink original mailed on request.

About this bond

What it is and who needs it.

What the service contract deposit actually guarantees

A service contract in Alabama is a separately priced agreement, for a specific duration, to repair, replace, or maintain property for operational or structural failure, defects, or normal wear — the extended warranty sold beside an appliance, a home systems plan, a windshield chip program, a key-fob replacement plan. Title 8, Chapter 32 excludes true manufacturer warranties, mechanical breakdown insurance, and ordinary maintenance agreements, and it states plainly that a service contract is not insurance. Anyone selling or offering to sell one in the state must register with the Commissioner of Insurance first and use the provider number the Department issues on every later filing.

Because the provider — not an insurer — owes the repairs, § 8-32-3(f) makes every provider prove it can pay for them. There are three routes, and a provider picks one on the application: insure all its contracts under a reimbursement insurance policy; maintain a funded reserve (reserves based on the provider's loss experience as certified by an actuary, or at the provider's election 30% of the aggregate provider fees on contracts sold and then in force) plus a financial security deposit in trust with the commissioner; or show a net worth or stockholders' equity of $100,000,000. This bond is the deposit in route two, and it is the route most independent providers take.

The deposit is a three-party promise: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of Alabama, Commissioner of Insurance as obligee, with your Alabama contract holders as the protected parties. On the Department's own bond form the condition is that you comply with Alabama's applicable statutes and every Department rule, regulation, and order applicable to service contract providers; the surety's aggregate liability is capped at the penal sum, the bond is continuous in form, and the surety may cancel only thirty days after its notice is received at the Department. It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety, so keep the filing continuous and the reserve funded.

Ala. Code § 8-32-3(f)(2)Title 8, Chapter 32 of the Code of Alabama 1975 governs service contracts, and § 8-32-3 requires each provider of service contracts sold in Alabama to file a registration with the Commissioner of Insurance on the Department's form. Subsection (f) gives three ways to assure faithful performance of the provider's obligations. The bond route pairs a funded reserve account — reserves based on the provider's loss experience as certified by an actuary or, at the provider's election, 30 percent of the aggregate provider fees for all service contracts sold and then in force — with a financial security deposit placed in trust with the commissioner “having a value of not less than five percent of the aggregate provider fees, less claims paid, for all service contracts sold and then in force, but not less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).” That deposit may be a surety bond issued by an authorized surety, securities eligible for deposit by authorized insurers, cash, a letter of credit from a qualified financial institution, or another form the commissioner prescribes. The Department's filing instructions add a registration fee — $264 under the current fee schedule — with the initial filing and with every annual renewal, plus a form-review fee for each contract form submitted, and the renewal filing must include an updated funded reserve. Confirm the deposit figure with the Department before you file.

You need this bond if you are

A service contract or extended warranty provider registering with the Alabama Department of Insurance for the first time
Renewing your provider registration and filing the annual application with an updated funded reserve
Switching financial security routes from a reimbursement insurance policy to a reserve-plus-deposit filing
A home warranty or consumer goods warranty seller whose contracts fall under Title 8, Chapter 32

One application, issued instantly.

Enter the deposit amount your registration requires and an effective date. Most applications approve and issue the moment you pay.

Start the application →
FAQ

Common questions.

How much is the Alabama service contract provider bond?Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum, so the price moves with the deposit your filing requires. The amount itself is the greater of $25,000 or 5% of your aggregate provider fees less claims paid. Enter that figure and your exact price appears at the application, before you pay.
What bond amount should I enter?The amount on your Department filing. Section 8-32-3(f)(2)(b) sets the security deposit at not less than five percent of the aggregate provider fees, less claims paid, for all service contracts sold and then in force — and never less than $25,000. A new provider with no Alabama book in force almost always files the $25,000 floor; a large in-force book pushes the figure above it. If you are unsure, confirm the number with the Department and enter that.
Do I pay the full bond amount?No. You pay the premium — 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. The bond amount is the surety’s maximum aggregate liability if a valid claim is made against the deposit; nothing is escrowed or held from you. That is the entire appeal of the bond over the alternatives, which ask you to park cash or securities in trust with the commissioner instead.
Can I satisfy the requirement without a bond?Yes — Alabama gives three routes. Insure all your service contracts under a reimbursement insurance policy; or run the funded reserve and place a security deposit in trust with the commissioner; or show a net worth or stockholders’ equity of $100,000,000, evidenced by a Form 10-K, Form 20-F, or audited financial statements. Within the deposit route, the surety bond is the cheapest instrument: a premium from $100 instead of tying up $25,000 or more in cash, securities, or a bank letter of credit.
Is there a credit check?Most applications approve instantly, and the form asks for no financial statements. If a review ever runs on a larger deposit amount, it is a soft pull that never affects your score — no hard inquiry runs on this bond.
Related bonds

Other Alabama bonds.

Your provider registration is one filing away.

Enter the deposit amount your Department filing requires and see your exact price before you pay. Free until issued.

Your premiumfrom $100
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