Arizona third party administrator bonds.
From $1,000.
Arizona lets private businesses do the Motor Vehicle Division’s counter work as an authorized third party, and A.R.S. § 28-5104 conditions that authorization on a surety bond running to the State of Arizona. The bond is at least $100,000 for each location, and premiums cost 1% of the bond amount.
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How much does an Arizona third party administrator bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $1,000 at the $100,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
There is no underwriting queue for the standard authorized third party bond — enter the amount ADOT requires, pay, and file the executed bond with Third Party Administration. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your entity type, business location and county, the bond amount your ADOT authorization requires, the effective date, and a one, two, or three year term — that is the application.
Issued the moment you pay
No credit check up to $50,000, and most applications approve instantly — your executed bond and power of attorney generate as soon as you pay.
File with ADOT
Send the executed bond to MVD Third Party Administration, Mail Drop 532M, PO Box 2100, Phoenix AZ 85001-2100, with your authorization application or renewal. It stays in force until the surety gives the director sixty days’ notice, so coverage never gaps mid-authorization. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the ADOT third party bond actually guarantees
Arizona’s third party program — A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 13, Article 1, with rules at A.A.C. Title 17, Chapter 7 — lets private businesses perform work the Motor Vehicle Division would otherwise do itself: issuing titles, registrations, plates and permits, licensing dealers, handling motor carrier licensing and tax reporting, and, for providers that qualify, driver license testing and processing. Every one of those transactions moves state money. An authorized third party takes fees and taxes across its own counter and remits them to MVD, and the bond is what stands behind that arrangement.
The bond is filed on ADOT form 96-0101 with MVD’s Third Party Administration office.
It is a three-party guarantee: you are the principal, a surety authorized in Arizona issues the bond, and the State of Arizona is the obligee. Under A.R.S. § 28-5104(C) the bond inures to the benefit of any person who suffers loss from three specific failures — nonpayment of a fee or tax paid to you, your insolvency or discontinuance of business, or failure to comply with your authorized duties. Subsection (D) caps the surety’s aggregate liability at the face amount, the bond is noncancellable without sixty days’ prior notice to the director, and future liability ends when the director terminates your authorization. If the surety pays, you reimburse the surety: this protects the public and the state, not you.
The amount is set by statute, not by the carrier. The baseline is at least $100,000 for each location. A third party that adds driver license services is sized instead by § 28-5101.01 — at least $300,000 on the initial application plus $100,000 for each additional driver license location, with a single $100,000 bond covering a location that also does title and registration work, and a hard ceiling of $1,000,000. A towing company employee authorized only to run level one inspections posts not more than $25,000, and that one bond covers every location the towing company operates. Enter the figure your ADOT authorization names; the premium is 1% of the bond amount.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A court bond answers to the court and the party its order protects: if the judgment or order the bond secures is not satisfied, that party can claim against it, up to the penal sum the court set.
The surety pays a valid claim after the court rules, and you repay the surety. A court bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with ADOT. Send the executed bond to MVD Third Party Administration, Mail Drop 532M, PO Box 2100, Phoenix AZ 85001-2100, with your authorization application or renewal. It stays in force until the surety gives the director sixty days’ notice, so coverage never gaps mid-authorization. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $50,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual underwriting fields — entity type, business location and county, the amount your authorization requires, and a one, two, or three year term. No credit check up to $50,000, and your price is 1% of the bond amount you enter, from $1,000.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Arizona bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
ADOT authorization waiting on one filing.
From $1,000, at 1% of the bond amount, with your exact price shown before you pay. Enter the amount your authorization names and file with Third Party Administration the same day. Free until issued.