Payment Bond or Performance Bond Claims

You can now apply online for a Performance Bond - it only takes three (3) minutes! (Yep, we timed it.) Click here:

Or you Can download our Express Performance Bond Application (click to download form)

1. Complete the form and email to [email protected]
2. Be sure to include the Contract and Notice of Award letter (bid specs from the obligee).
3. Send the bid results if you have them

Claims Against A Payment Bond

A payment bond benefits the subcontractors, laborers and suppliers of the principal or subcontractors of the principal.

Unfortunately, payment bond claims can be particularly detrimental to a fiscally sound contractor as, many times, the contractor does not understand there is an issue till a claim is declared.  What’s more, it can also result in a surety paying for work or product twice.

So, how does this work?  Let’s assume that a material provider of one of the contractor’s subcontractors was not paid, even though the contractor paid the subcontractor for the material. The materials vendor could possibly sue against the payment bond and the principal would be obliged to pay for the material once more just to satisfy the claim.

This is one reason why a contractor requires a bond from a subcontractor, to eliminate the double repayment risk.

The Payment Bond Agreement Needs To Be Reviewed Carefully

It is crucial to review the payment bond agreement and related documents to determine exactly what the repayment bond covers. This is true also for exclusive jobs (the law has developed around just what is covered under Federal and State work).

The following are the 4 major classifications covered in a payment bond claim:

• Consists of contributions to pension funds, yet does not consist of tax obligations.
•  Must be used in the job.
• Parts and Repair work.  Can be covered if utilized only for the job.
• Equipment and tools.   Lease and rental value are normally covered, yet acquisition and financings are not.

The good news is, valid repayment bond cases are cleared up quite promptly. The surety is only accountable for the penal sum of the bond so once that amount is exhausted their obligation stops.

It’s in all party’s best interest to obtain a reasonable and fast resolution for a repayment bond case. One of the blunders that professionals make is waiting to get the surety involved or withholding info.  Remember, surety bonds require indemnification from the service provider’s company and usually personal indemnification from the owners, their partners and others. Because of this, it is in the best interest of the contractor to partner with the surety to limit the loss.

One tip: keep in mind that, unlike insurance coverage, surety bonds are composed on a no reduction basis and you normally compensate the surety for all reductions - including attorney fees, etc.

Here's a brief video on payment bond claims:

Exactly what takes place if you receive a claim on a job?  Instead of diving into the legal minutiae, let’s instead just briefly go over the standard operations and what you have to know.  It’s vital to remember that, unlike insurance, bonds are based on a no reduction basis.  That means you typically have to indemnify the surety for all losses – such as attorney fees, delay loss, and many more

Performance Bond Claims

A performance bond is an agreement where the bond firm (the surety) guarantees that the service provider (the principal) will certainly carry out the terms of the deal to the project owner or general contractor (the obligee).

The initial action in the claim process is to review the contract and associated bond forms. Almost all performance bonds need four events to take place prior to the surety having to act under the bond:

1. The contractor has to be in default (breach of contract).
2. The obligee needs to state the contractor is in default.
3. The obligee needs to have performed its responsibilities under the deal.
4. The obligee must terminate the principal’s right to continue.

Once these requirements have actually been met, it is the bond firm’s obligation to check out the claim. If the default is proper, then the surety has one of four choices to pursue. These options are:

1. Financing the contractor.  This alternative has the surety giving monetary help to the contractor to complete the task. It’s essential to remember that all economic support from the surety adds to the reduction claim and the surety expects compensation from the contractor. Commonly, in a funding situation, the surety needs the contractor to reaffirm its promise of personal assets and/or create a joint inspection bank account to manage agreement earnings.

2. Takeover the job.  This option permits the surety to take control of the deal and finish the job. The surety then subcontracts the work to a completion contractor. Not remarkably, this is the surety’s least preferred choice and the obligee’s most favored option.

3. Tender New Contractor. The surety selects a completion contractor, haggles the rate on the contract and after that sends the terms to the obligee for approval. Oftentimes, a surety will take this option when the principal challenges the default.  The surety can easily tender a brand-new completion contractor and later dispute any sort of liability along with the obligee.

4. Obligee Completion. This is often described as owner finalization or the do nothing choice. This is an option if dangerous waste is entailed, the surety believes the contractor has a valid defense, the obligee will not lose any money as the contract is still profitable and will certainly cover the expense of finalization, or the expense to complete will be greater than the penal amount of the bond.

A bond claim is when one party (such as the Obligee, a subcontractor or material vendor) makes a claim upon the job bond. The claim is then processed by the surety to see if the claim was timely made and that the dispute is valid. If the claim is valid, the surety will then pay, or get another contractor to finish the job, and then look to the Obligor for recompense. Find out more about the definition of a surety bond.

Bond Claim Chart

See our Facebook page

See our Twitter page