South Carolina surplus lines broker bonds.
$100 flat.
South Carolina licenses the brokers who place business with non-admitted insurers, and the license is conditioned on a $10,000 bond filed with the Department of Insurance in a form approved by the Attorney General. Ours is $100 flat, and the price you see is the price at checkout.
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How much does a South Carolina surplus lines broker bond cost?
$100 at the $10,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
Three steps. One sitting.
The bond is one line item in a license application that also wants the exam and the biennial fee — and it is the line item you can finish today. The whole process:
Apply online
Your entity details, your NPN, and an effective date. That is the application. No credit check.
Pay & e-sign
Broker license bonds are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. No credit check, and most applications approve instantly.
File with the Department
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to go in with your license application or a renewal. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the surplus lines broker bond actually guarantees
Surplus lines is the market of last resort: property and casualty risk that the admitted market will not write, placed instead with a non-admitted insurer that is eligible to accept it. Because those carriers are not backed by the state guaranty fund, South Carolina puts the licensing burden on the person who places the business — the broker, licensed under Title 38, Chapter 45.
The license is not a standalone credential. Section 38-45-20 builds it on top of an existing resident property and casualty producer license for the same lines, adds the South Carolina broker examination, adds a biennial fee, and adds the $10,000 bond — executed by a corporate surety licensed to transact surety insurance in this State, in a form approved by the Attorney General, in favor of South Carolina.
The bond is consumer-facing. It is conditioned to pay a person insured, or seeking insurance, through the broker who sustains a loss as a result of the broker’s violation of or failure to comply with an insurance law or regulation of this State; the broker’s failure to transmit properly a payment received, whether cash or credit; or an act of fraud committed by the broker in connection with an insurance transaction. Those three triggers are the whole scope.
It sits alongside the rest of the chapter’s duties — due diligence in placing the risk under §38-45-90, the surplus lines warning stamped on the policy under §38-45-110, the broker’s personal liability on a policy of an unlicensed insurer under §38-45-120, records under §38-45-80, and the premium tax the broker remits. It is not insurance for you: if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety, and the Department can act on the license besides.
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 $10,000 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; a longer term is the same price per year, chosen at checkout.
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 Department. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to go in with your license application or a renewal. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $100 at the $10,000 amount for every applicant: the carrier’s rate book prices this bond by the form, not by your credit or your business profile.
No credit check.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — your entity details and your NPN. No credit check.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other South Carolina bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Been told you need a different amount?
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Broker license waiting on one filing.
$100 flat, no credit check, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.