How do I get bonded for a small cleaning business?

Hello Tif:

Look in the phone book under bonds. Pick a company and call them. They'll tell you, and they'll sell you one too.

excon

Are you sure that you are even required to be bonded for operating a cleaning service where you will be working? I would find that out first, because if you don't have to be bonded, then that will save you some money.

Here is some information about bonding from the following site. Small Business related FAQ's

Q: I was told that I needed to be bonded by one of my customer's. What is bonding and how do I get bonded?


A: BONDS AND BONDING.
From time to time a small business, especially those performing contracting services will be asked to bond his work in advance. In some states certain types of contractors are required to be bonded. What is a bond, how do you get one, and what does it do?

Simply put a bond (sometimes referred to as a surety bond) is a third party obligation promising to pay if a vendor does not fulfill its valid obligations under a contract. There are various types of bonds such as LICENSE, PERFORMANCE, BID, INDEMNITY & PAYMENT. A bond is a financial guarantee that you will honor a business contract. Frequently a customer will require that your company be bonded.

• A PERFORMANCE bond is a guarantee that you will perform work in accordance with the terms of a contract.
• A BID bond is a guarantee you will perform work if the bid is won by you.
• A INDEMNITY bond promises to reimburse loss incurred if you fail to perform or if you fail to pay other vendors in the performance of the contact.
• A LICENSE bond is required by some states for certain businesses. In some cases you pay the state directly rather than obtaining a bond.
• A PAYMENT bond promises you will pay all subcontractors and material providers utilized in the performance of a contract.

A bond is NOT an insurance policy. This is important to remember. A bond provides assurance that the contracted work will be satisfactorily completed only. For example your bond will not pay for property damage or personal injury resulting from your work. For this you need conventional insurance coverage.

Your local yellow pages will list companies that provide bonding services under "surety bonds." Also, check with Bond-By-Fax, Commercial Surety Department at 1 (800) 395 CBIC. Generally speaking, bonding companies will only provide bond coverage in an amount that you can cover with existing liquid assets. Before you purchase a bond from any bonding company, have the bond documentation reviewed by your attorney and ensure that you understand exactly what the bond can and cannot protect against - for you and your customer.

If you have insurance with a compay like State Farm, ask your agent. I had it done at the best price that way.

The reference you were given previously to some FAQ's on bonding refers only to surety bonds. I write surety and fidelity bonds and I have never known of a janitorial service to be required by either a government entity or private entity to post a "surety" bond. Not mentioned in the refererence were "fidelity" bonds. A fidelity bond or fidelity insurance is routinely purchased by companies, banks, other commercial interests where there are employees who have access to company funds, property and the insured wants to protect those assets from acts of "employee" dishonesty just as companies buy fire insurance to protect against loss by fire. You can also buy fidelity insurance if, for example, you have a clerical employee who steals a buffer, mop, vehicle etc that belongs to your janitorial company. However, most janitorial companies do not need or want this type of "fidelity" insurance, rather they want to advertise that they are "bonded". They want to assure that should one of their employees steal items, money belonging to one of their customers that their customers will be reimbursed. Therefore, some but not all, surety(insurance) companies offer what's commonly called a "third party fidelity bond" that offers limited coverage just for the latter purpose I mentioned and that is loss of a customer's property by dishonest acts of the janitor. Ask for that kind of bond when you call agents if that is what you are looking for.