What, I can hear you say are surety bonds? Well how about I talk to you about road bonds or sewer bonds - you have heard of those haven’t you?
These days, the larger developments often call for an insurance policy that provides some form of security against the unthinkable happening. Very often this is the main contractor going bust when the job isn’t finished. Usually large sums of money have to be provided as security for a contract and these make the invitation to tender unrealistic, so the insurance industry has come up with policies that you can purchase for a fraction of the cost and yet satisfy the requirements of the architect, local authority, quantity surveyor or anybody else requiring the security.
These days we know these policies as surety bonds, they include your normal road bonds and sewer bonds but also extend to advance payment bonds, performance bonds, retention bonds and even bonds for NHBC membership. All of these come under the generic heading of ‘protection against contractor failure’, a specialist area of our new insurer, Evolution.
It’s not a pretty fact that clients have to protect themselves in this day and age and it is yet another burden to the contractor. Very often you do not even get a chance to price a job without having access to surety bonds. In order to plug this hole in the market NRWB has teamed up with Evolution Insurance to offer you surety bonds without any hassle.
NRWB members get an automatic 10 percent reduction on the premium, since very often the risks associated with an NRWB member are less than those from an unknown supplier.
The process is simple, call Jessica Jewell on 01223 508407 and give her the contract information. You will probably have to supply your last year’s accounts in order that the insurer can assess the risk and expect the premium to be in the range of between four and 10 percent of the surety value. We will get the insurer to contact you directly in order to speed the process and you will then be free to tender for that all important work.
Brochures for the scheme will be sent to members soon and as always, please do ring if you require anything further. And if you have a need for a surety bond now, give us a call.
NEW HOUSING
In addition to the bonds NRWB has also teamed up with BLP (Building Life Plans) to offer our members premium indications for new housing. BLP requires no technical assessment on you as a housebuilder and their risk assessments are done on a scheme by scheme basis. BLP has also been helping to achieve mortgageability with their developments for over ten years.
Our partnership does not require you to pay an annual subscription and the BLP product provides you with cover from day one and therefore there is no two year liability period that you may be used to with other products. The team at BLP is ready to write your business and very professional they are too with over 350 years of experience in their technical surveying team! To access the product as always give Jessica a call 01223 508407 and she will obtain a premium indication for you for your proposed scheme. BLP will do new housing, barn conversions, flats and apartments, modern methods of construction and even completed units up to 12 months old.
The new relationship with BLP fills a large hole in the MasterBond portfolio of products and provides a complete service to our members. Go on, give it a try!
