The United States has a lot of work to do if it wants to maintain its national network of drinking water infrastructure. That’s according to a recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which estimates the country needs a 20-year capital improvement of $625 billion. That money would be allocated towards the repair of existing infrastructure, as well as the construction of new infrastructure projects at the federal, state and local levels. Agents specializing in surety bonds should be aware of the opportunity presented by the prospects of these large-scale public works proje ..read more

Change orders from a general contractor created a challenging bond issue that needed a quick resolution. Old Republic Surety (ORS) was able to provide the required “yes” and coordinate seamless transfer of the risk from an existing bond to an entirely new one ..read more

Surety bonds have garnered an unfortunate reputation of being “ugly” or “uncomfortable” for independent insurance agents for many reasons ..read more

Old Republic Surety is committed to excellence in underwriting and is developing underwriters to continue to grow. Our underwriter training program allows individuals a foundational knowledge into underwriting that is rewarding and challenging. The program isn’t just for external hires; our current employees can apply to be in the program as a way to advance their careers and better develop their underwriting skills ..read more

“Seeing people grow into their roles and assisting them reaching their full potential is something I am very passionate about,” says Shayne Albine, who has worked her way up over the last decade from Underwriter to Regional Director and now Regional Vice President for the Southeast Commercial Branch at Old Republic Surety. “Sometimes that means I have to sell people on the possibilities in our industry, and I especially value helping someone who might be a little lost on their career path and giving them the encouragement and insight they need to get their footing and a bit of motivation back ..read more

Going the extra mile is a well-known staple of good customer service, but sometimes that mile is not a direct route. It requires working around obstacles and pushing through resistance to deliver it ..read more

“We’ve targeted tight turnaround times from submission to approval using Old Republic Surety’s (ORS) FastBond process — the faster, the better,” says Todd Taylor, CPCU, AFSB ..read more

There are many ways to grow a business, but the first step is to understand how you got to where you are, then decide what you need to do next to take your company to a higher level ..read more

A day in the life of a contract surety underwriter almost always includes wading through dozens of acronyms in bid documents and contracts. There are acronyms for special designations that define groups for which work is specially set aside. There are acronyms for the type of proposal requested and how the contract works. What follows is a handy reference chart of some common acronyms used in federal government contracts for anyone not familiar with these terms ..read more

It has been said that if Google can’t find you no one can. That’s certainly the case with commercial surety bonds, a product that many small contractors first learn about through the internet. If your agency doesn’t appear near the top of Google’s ranking, you could be missing out on lucrative bond placements and additional opportunities to cross-sell to small business clients ..read more