Arkansas service contract provider bonds.
From $250.
A provider selling extended service contracts in Arkansas registers with the Insurance Commissioner under the Service Contracts Act. One route to financial responsibility is a funded reserve plus a security deposit in trust with the Commissioner: a surety bond worth at least $25,000. Premiums are 1% of the bond amount.
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How much does an Arkansas service contract provider bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $250 at the $25,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Registration season runs to October 1, so providers usually want this in hand quickly. Enter the amount, pay, and file with the Insurance Department:
Apply online
Your company details, your state of incorporation, the security-deposit amount your registration requires, and an effective date. That is the application.
Issued on the spot
The application returns your exact price at 1% of the bond amount. Pay and the executed bond is generated on the spot. Six-figure deposits may draw a brief review first.
File with the Insurance Commissioner
Submit the executed bond with your annual provider registration and Certificate of Compliance. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Department insists on paper.
What it is and who needs it.
What the service contract bond actually secures
A service contract is the extended-protection agreement sold alongside consumer electronics, appliances, vehicles, homes, and home systems — coverage for repair or replacement beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. Arkansas regulates the companies that stand behind those agreements as providers under the Service Contracts Act, and every provider selling in the state files a registration with the Insurance Commissioner annually, on or before October 1, with a $200 fee at initial registration and each year after.
To assure the faithful performance of a provider’s obligations to its contract holders, the Act gives three routes. A provider can insure every contract under a reimbursement insurance policy written by an insurer with at least $15,000,000 in statutory capital and surplus; or maintain a funded reserve of not less than 40% of gross consideration received less claims paid and place a security deposit in trust with the Commissioner; or maintain a net worth of $100,000,000, on its own or under a parent guarantee. This bond is the second route’s deposit.
That deposit must be worth at least 5% of gross consideration received less claims paid on all unexpired Arkansas service contracts, and never less than $25,000 — a surety bond from an authorized surety satisfies it. Because the figure moves with your Arkansas book, recalculate it at each October registration and re-file at the new amount if you have grown. Enter the figure your registration requires; 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 claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety 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 the Insurance Commissioner. Submit the executed bond with your annual provider registration and Certificate of Compliance. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Department insists on paper.
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 $10,000. 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 on the spot.
Submit the application with the deposit amount your registration requires — the executed bond is generated ready to file with the Insurance Commissioner. No credit check up to $10,000.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Arkansas bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
October registration waiting on one filing.
Premiums from $250 at 1% of the bond amount. Enter your deposit figure and file with the Insurance Commissioner. Free until issued.