VT service contract provider bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.
Anyone providing service contracts — extended warranties and similar agreements on consumer products — that are issued, sold, or cover property in Vermont must register with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, and 8 V.S.A. § 4249 makes that registration turn on continuing proof of financial stability. A surety bond is the usual proof. The amount is 5% of the gross annual consideration from all service contracts issued and in force, and never less than $25,000. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum; the application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly.
Trusted by industry leaders
Apply to filed in one sitting.
Your registration packet needs a bond plus a calculation justifying the amount, so get the bond out of the way first and spend your time on the math:
Apply online
Entity details, the county, the bond amount your calculation supports, and an effective date. That is the entire application — no credit section and no financials on our side.
Pay & e-sign
Your price is final at checkout — 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. The application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly.
File with DFR
Send the executed bond with your registration or three-year renewal form, the $600 fee, the calculation justifying the deposit, and evidence of your funded reserve account.
What it is and who needs it.
What the service contract provider bond covers
A service contract is a promise to repair, replace, or maintain a consumer product after the manufacturer's warranty runs out. Vermont deliberately says these agreements are not insurance — 8 V.S.A. § 4248(c) — and their sellers are not insurance agents. What replaces insurance regulation is a registration regime with teeth: register with the Commissioner, use contracts that carry mandatory disclosures, and keep proving you can pay the claims you have sold.
The bond is the first branch of that proof. Under 8 V.S.A. § 4249(a)(1) a provider posts a surety bond, eligible securities, cash, or a letter of credit with a value at all times of not less than 5% of the gross annual consideration from all service contracts issued and in force, never below $25,000 — and maintains a funded reserve account for its Vermont liabilities of at least 40% of all consideration received less claims paid. The bond stays unimpaired for as long as you do business in Vermont; the Commissioner releases it only after you stop writing contracts here and prove every obligation to Vermont contract holders is discharged.
Two other branches exist. A provider whose contracts are all insured by a service contract reimbursement policy can file that instead, if the insurer files with the NAIC and shows capital and surplus of $5,000,000 or more, written premiums not exceeding three times capital and surplus over five years, and profitable operations over five years. So can a provider — or its parent or affiliate — with a net worth of at least $50 million, which must also file the guaranty agreement § 4249(b) requires. Most independent providers land on the bond because it is the only branch that does not require an insurer partner or a nine-figure balance sheet.
You need this bond if you are
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — entity details, county, the bond amount your calculation supports, and an effective date. There is no credit section in this application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Vermont bonds.
Register once the deposit is posted.
Enter the amount your 5% calculation supports, see the exact price, and file the executed bond with DFR. Free until issued.