South Dakota surplus lines broker bonds.
$100 flat.
South Dakota gives a resident surplus line broker thirty days from licensure to file a $2,000 bond with the Director of the Division of Insurance — and you may not place coverage for an insured until it is on file. Ours is $100 flat, and the price you see is the checkout price. No credit check, and most approve on the spot.
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How much does a South Dakota surplus lines broker bond cost?
$100 at the $2,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
Three steps. One sitting.
The surplus lines bond is the simplest item on your licensing checklist. Here's the entire process:
Apply online
Your business details, the name that appears on your producer license, and an effective date. That is the application. No credit check.
Pay & e-sign
License bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase.
File with the director
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with the Director of the Division of Insurance in Pierre inside the thirty-day window. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Surplus line insurance is coverage placed with an insurer that is not authorized to transact business in South Dakota. Chapter 58-32 exists to give the South Dakota insuring public orderly access to those nonadmitted markets for coverages the admitted market will not write — while keeping that channel from becoming an end-run around the policy-form and rate standards authorized insurers have to meet. The licensed surplus line broker is the gatekeeper on that channel, and the $2,000 bond is the security the state attaches to the role.
Only an individual already licensed in South Dakota as an insurance producer, and found by the director to be competent and trustworthy with respect to the handling of surplus lines, may hold the license at all (SDCL 58-32-7). Once it issues, the bond is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of South Dakota as obligee, filed with and approved by the Director of the Division of Insurance. The statute names two conditions, and the second is the one brokers underestimate — that you conduct business under the license in accordance with chapter 58-32, and that you promptly remit the surplus lines premium taxes owed under §§ 58-32-44 and 58-32-45. Those taxes run to the state treasurer through the Division of Insurance before the first day of April each year, quarterly once a prior year's collections pass five thousand dollars, and SDCL 58-32-46 adds a twenty-five dollar fine for every day of delinquency.
It is not insurance for you. If the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The bond is continuous by design — 58-32-10.1 requires it kept in force for as long as the license remains in effect, and no surety may terminate it on less than thirty days' prior written notice given to you and filed with the director. Letting it go is not a paperwork problem: under SDCL 58-32-13, when the director suspends or revokes a surplus line license, every other license that individual holds under Title 58 goes with it. South Dakota renews the surplus lines license biennially at the end of your birth month, so we track the filing and notify you 60 and 30 days out to keep the $2,000 bond unbroken.
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 $2,000 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 director. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with the Director of the Division of Insurance in Pierre inside the thirty-day window. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $100 at the $2,000 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. No credit check.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other South Dakota 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 .
File your $2,000 bond with the director today.
$100 flat, no quote process, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.