MI surplus lines agent bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.

Michigan licenses surplus lines producers under Chapter 19 of the Insurance Code — the surplus lines insurance act, MCL 500.1901 and following — and the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) is the obligee on the bond when one is called for. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum; the application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly. Enter the amount named on your instructions and your exact price appears at the application.

Runs to the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services as obligee on a surplus lines producer filing
Backs the semi-annual premium tax and regulatory fee every licensee owes under MCL 500.1905(3)(d)
From $100, no credit section in the application — enter the amount your instructions name and see your price at application
From $1001% of the bond amount, $100 minimumA-ratedA.M. Best carriersFastinstant underwriting for most
Trusted by industry leaders
NYCEDC
BDG
Capital
McKinney
Terra
JLL
Triple Five
Georgetown
NYCEDC
BDG
Capital
McKinney
Terra
JLL
Triple Five
Georgetown
How it works

Apply to filed in one sitting.

No underwriting queue for a standard surplus lines producer bond — enter the amount, pay, and file the executed bond wherever it was asked for. Here is the whole thing:

TODAY · ONLINE

Apply online

Your agency details, the bond amount named on your instructions, and an effective date. That is the entire application.

INSTANTLY

Issued

The application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly. A larger penal sum may draw a brief underwriter look — if a check ever runs, it is a soft pull that will not touch your score.

SAME DAY

File it

Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to send to DIFS, to the carrier, or to the wholesale broker that asked for it. Wet-ink original mailed on request.

About this bond

What it is and who needs it.

What the surplus lines bond actually covers

Surplus lines is the market for risk no admitted carrier will write. A surplus lines producer places that business with eligible unauthorized insurers — companies not licensed in Michigan but cleared to write here — and Chapter 19 exists to keep that access orderly. Under MCL 500.1905 nobody may solicit, bind, or otherwise act as an agent or broker in a surplus lines transaction without the license, and DIFS requires an active property and casualty producer license plus the surplus lines examination before it will issue one.

The obligations the bond stands behind are mostly about money the licensee holds or owes the state. MCL 500.1905(3)(d) makes each licensee file a sworn statement of charges for insurance procured and amounts returned on cancellations by February 15 and August 15 for the six-month periods ending December 31 and June 30, and pay a 1% premium tax plus a 0.5% regulatory fee at the same time. MCL 500.1917 protects the insured once a risk is assumed and the licensee has received the premium — the unauthorized insurer is treated as having received it and stays liable to the insured for any loss or unearned premium regardless of whether the licensee itself still owes that money to the insurer — and MCL 500.1913 requires a separate account of every transaction.

Michigan’s statute does not name a bond amount, and the DIFS licensing checklist for a resident surplus lines producer does not list a bond as a step — so when this bond is asked for, the penal sum comes from the party asking: a DIFS filing condition, a carrier or managing general agent agreement, or a wholesale broker’s contract. Enter the figure your instructions name; we issue at whatever amount applies. It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays, you repay the surety.

MCL 500.1905 — surplus lines insurance act; DIFS as obligeeMichigan licenses surplus lines producers under Chapter 19 of the Insurance Code of 1956, the surplus lines insurance act, MCL 500.1901 to 500.1955. MCL 500.1905(1) bars anyone from acting as an agent or broker in a surplus lines transaction without a license under that chapter and section 1206a; MCL 500.1905(3) conditions the license on an application, the surplus lines examination where required, compliance with MCL 500.1204 to 500.1206, and the semi-annual sworn statement with the 2% premium tax and 0.5% regulatory fee due February 15 and August 15. Neither Chapter 19 nor the producer-licensing chapter states a bond amount, and DIFS lists the P&C prerequisite and the examination — not a bond — in its resident surplus lines producer instructions. Where a bond is required, the Department of Insurance and Financial Services is named as obligee and the penal sum comes from the instruction that generated it. Related provisions worth knowing: MCL 500.1920(4) keeps an insurer off the eligible list unless it continuously maintains capital and surplus of at least $1,500,000.00, and MCL 500.1922 requires the unauthorized-insurer notice on the face of the policy. Confirm your required amount and the exact obligee wording before you buy.

You need this bond if you are

A resident surplus lines producer whose DIFS filing or deficiency notice asks for a bond
A nonresident surplus lines licensee placing Michigan risk through a home-state license
Signing a wholesaler or MGA agreement that conditions binding authority on a surety bond
Renewing or replacing an expiring bond so your surplus lines authority never goes uncovered

One application, then a quick review.

These are the actual issuing fields — submit them with the amount named on your instructions. Larger penal sums sometimes draw a brief underwriter look before the bond releases.

Start the application →
FAQ

Common questions.

How much is the Michigan surplus lines agent bond?Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum. Enter the penal sum named on your instructions and your exact price appears at the application — there is no quote round-trip.
What amount should I enter?The amount named on the filing that asked for the bond. Michigan’s surplus lines act does not fix a penal sum, so the figure comes from DIFS, from a carrier or MGA agreement, or from a wholesale broker’s contract. If your instructions are silent, ask before you buy — we will issue at whatever amount they confirm.
What does the bond guarantee?Compliance with the obligations Chapter 19 puts on a licensee: the sworn semi-annual statement and the 1% premium tax plus 0.5% regulatory fee due February 15 and August 15, the separate account of every transaction under MCL 500.1913, and the insurer’s continuing liability to the insured for a risk it has assumed under MCL 500.1917 once the licensee has received the premium.
Do I pay the full bond amount?No. You pay the premium only. The bond amount is the surety’s maximum exposure on a valid claim — not a deposit, and nobody holds your money.
Is there a credit check?The application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly. If a check ever runs on a larger penal sum, it is a soft pull that will not affect your score.
Related bonds

Other Michigan bonds.

Surplus lines authority waiting on one bond.

Enter the amount your instructions name, see your exact price at the application, and file the same day. Free until issued.

Your premiumfrom $100
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