South Carolina credit counseling bonds.
From $250.
A credit counseling organization may not offer services in South Carolina until it files a surety bond with the Department of Consumer Affairs under S.C. Code Ann. § 37-7-103. The bond must equal or exceed the South Carolina client funds in your trust account and can never be less than $25,000. The premium is 1% of the bond amount.
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How much does a South Carolina credit counseling 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.
No underwriting queue on the standard credit counseling bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with Consumer Affairs. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your organization details, the bond amount Consumer Affairs approved, an effective date, and a term. That is the application. No credit check up to $25,000.
Pay & e-sign
Your price is 1% of the bond amount, shown before you pay — and the bond issues the moment you pay. Your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File with Consumer Affairs
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your credit counseling organization license application or renewal at 293 Greystone Boulevard in Columbia. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
South Carolina licenses credit counseling organizations through the Department of Consumer Affairs under Title 37, Chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Code. Section 37-7-103 is blunt about the sequence: an organization may not offer or agree to offer credit counseling services in this State without first filing a surety bond with the department.
The amount is not a flat number — it must equal or exceed the total amount of South Carolina clients' funds in your trust account at the time you apply or renew, as determined by the department, and it can never be less than $25,000. The bond is conditioned on the faithful accounting of all money collected on accounts entrusted to the organization or its employees and agents.
It is not insurance for you — the bond runs to the State of South Carolina and to any consumer with a cause of action against you, and if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Licenses expire December 31 each year and the bond must be maintained for three years after a revocation, denial, or failure to renew, so we track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
You need this bond if you're
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 Consumer Affairs. Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your credit counseling organization license application or renewal at 293 Greystone Boulevard in Columbia. Wet-ink original 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 $25,000. 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 issuing fields — organization details, the bond amount Consumer Affairs approved, an effective date, and a term.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other South Carolina bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
File your credit counseling bond today.
1% of the bond amount, issued the moment you pay, no credit check up to $25,000. Free until issued.