Virginia home service contract bonds.
From $100.
Under § 59.1-434.3, a Virginia home service contract provider must file a bond or letter of credit to register with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The amount steps up with the total value of your unexpired contracts: $10,000, $40,000, $65,000 or $90,000. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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How much does a Virginia home service contract bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Registration is an annual paper chase; the bond is the easy part of it. Enter your tier amount, pay, and attach the original to your Form 801. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your company details, the county you operate from, the bond amount your tier requires, and an effective date — that is the application.
Issued on the spot
No credit check up to $25,000, and pricing runs 1% of the bond amount from a $100 minimum — the executed bond generates as soon as you pay.
File with VDACS
VDACS wants the ORIGINAL signed bond, in favor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, attached to your registration. We email the executed bond and mail the wet-ink original to you or straight to the Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs in Richmond.
What it is and who needs it.
What the home service contract bond actually covers
A home service contract is what most homeowners call a home warranty — under § 59.1-434.1, a contract for separately stated consideration to perform the service, repair, replacement, or maintenance of property. Section 59.1-434.7 says these are expressly not contracts of insurance in the Commonwealth and are not regulated under Title 38.2, which is why they land at VDACS rather than the Bureau of Insurance. The provider — the party contractually obligated to the purchaser — is who registers and who bonds.
Registration runs through the VDACS Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs on Form 801, with a $300 annual fee, audited financial statements, and a renewal due every July 1. Before registration issues, § 59.1-434.3 requires the provider to file and maintain a bond with corporate surety from a company authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth — or an FDIC-insured letter of credit — in favor of the Commonwealth for the benefit of purchasers, payable where the provider does not fulfill its obligations under the contracts it sold.
Two things sit alongside the bond. The provider must keep a funded reserve of not less than 40 percent of gross consideration received, less claims paid, on in-force Virginia contracts. And in lieu of both the bond and the reserve, a provider may instead file a contractual liability insurance policy covering 100 percent of its home service contract liabilities including claims administration, cancellable only on 60 days’ notice to the Commissioner. Providers whose net worth exceeds $100 million are exempt from the chapter altogether under § 59.1-434.7.
You need this bond if you are
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 VDACS. VDACS wants the ORIGINAL signed bond, in favor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, attached to your registration. We email the executed bond and mail the wet-ink original to you or straight to the Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs in Richmond.
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 on the spot.
Submit the application with the amount your tier requires — the executed bond generates as soon as you pay, and the wet-ink original follows for your VDACS filing.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Virginia bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
VDACS registration, one filing away.
Pricing from $100 at a rate of 1% of the bond amount. Enter your tier and file with the Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs. Free until issued.