Have a question? 
+1 815-826-6324 (815-8-BondAI) 
phil@AmericasSuretyBonds.com
Army Veteran Owned | Expert Surety Bonds Since 2004
Have a question? +1 815-826-6324 (815-8-BondAI) phil@AmericasSuretyBonds.com
Army Veteran Owned | Expert Surety Bonds Since 2004
Arkansas does not force you into a surety bond here. The State Plant Board asks for $100,000 of financial responsibility and lets you satisfy it four different ways, and most firms file a liability insurance certificate on Form DP-44 because the policy also pays claims instead of just backing them. If you want that route priced properly, get a full quote at PestControlLiability.com, covering pesticide and pest control general liability, pollution from drift and contamination, workers compensation, property and equipment, drone operations, termite and bedbug work, lawncare and remediation. If a bond is what you want, the state takes it on equal footing.
Arkansas requires a commercial pesticide applicator to furnish evidence of financial responsibility before the State Plant Board will issue a license. Ark. Code Ann. 20-20-209(d) accepts any one of four instruments: a letter of credit from an Arkansas bank, a surety bond, an escrow account with an Arkansas bank, or an insurance policy or certification of one from an insurer or surplus lines broker authorized to do business in Arkansas. Rule No. 2, Section V sets the minimum at $100,000 for property damage and public liability, with any deductible on an insurance policy capped at $5,000. The figure is flat. It does not scale with acreage, revenue, aircraft count or category.
We can help with all Arkansas bonds!
This is what most pages get wrong. Ark. Code Ann. 20-20-209(d) gives four ways to establish financial responsibility and treats them equally:
A letter of credit from an Arkansas bank guaranteeing financial responsibility. A surety bond. An escrow account with an Arkansas bank. An insurance policy, or certification of one, from an insurer or surplus lines broker authorized to do business in this state, insuring the commercial applicator and any of his agents against liability resulting from his operations.
Rule No. 2, Section V sets the floor at $100,000 for property damage and public liability. The statute puts it as an amount not less than that set by the State Plant Board for each property damage and public liability, including loss or damage arising out of actual use of any pesticide. If you go the insurance route the deductible clause cannot exceed $5,000, and the statute gives the board authority to set deductible amounts. The Department's Firm Commercial Applicator License page points applicants to Form DP-44 for the insurance proof.
One flat figure. No tiers by crop acreage, gross revenue, number of aircraft or ground rigs, or license category.
Section 20-20-209(a) reaches anyone who engages in the business of applying restricted use or other pesticides, or the aerial application of seed or fertilizers, to the lands of another. Aerial seed and fertilizer work is inside the licensing scope even though it is not a pesticide job, which surprises people.
Two different exemptions, and neither one shows up on competitor pages.
In the rules, Rule No. 2, Section V says the financial responsibility requirement does not apply to Seed Treatment Applicators or Regulatory Pest Control Applicators.
In the statute, subsection (f) exempts the neighbor accommodation situation entirely from the licensing requirements of the section. It applies to a person who operates and maintains pesticide application equipment for his own use, is not engaged in the business of applying pesticides for hire, does not publicly hold himself out as a pesticide applicator, and operates that equipment only in the vicinity of his owned or rented property and for the accommodation of his neighbors. The catch is that when such a person uses or supervises the use of a restricted use pesticide, he still has to comply with 20-20-210 or 20-20-211.
Everyone else applying for hire in the firm commercial categories, which the Department lists as agricultural plants, agricultural animals, aquatic pest control, forest pest control, right of way pest control and wood treatment, files proof.
Read 20-20-209(d)(1)(D) closely. The insurance option is written so that the coverage is not applied to damages or injury to agricultural crops, plants or land being worked upon by the commercial applicator. That is the exact exposure a custom applicator worries about most, and the state minimum is not built to reach it.
So treating the $100,000 filing as your insurance program is a mistake. It is a licensing threshold, not risk transfer. Care, custody and control on the field you are treating, drift onto the neighbor, chemical overspray, a misapplication that kills a crop, all of it needs a real policy behind it, and that is a conversation to have before the season starts rather than after a claim. PestControlLiability.com quotes the whole package: pesticide and pest control general liability, pollution coverage for drift and contamination, workers compensation, property and equipment, drone operations, termite and bedbug work, lawncare and remediation.
Two separate triggers, and the second one is commonly misdescribed.
First, the State Plant Board must be notified ten days before any reduction in liability.
Second, if the liability furnished becomes unsatisfactory, the applicant must upon notice immediately execute new liability. If he fails to do so, the board cancels the license and gives notice of the fact, and it is then unlawful for that person to engage in the business of applying pesticides until the liability is brought back into compliance and the license is reinstated. It is not a silent automatic lapse, but the practical effect is the same. A cancelled bond or a non renewed policy mid season puts your ability to work at risk.
The license expires December 31 of each year unless revoked or suspended sooner. The Department emails renewal notices each November so updated documents and fees can be resubmitted. The board may make renewal subject to reexamination for maintaining current competence as technology advances, so a renewal is not always a paperwork exercise.
The application names a qualifying individual who must pass an examination covering the classifications applied for and the nature and effect of the pesticides used under them. The application also has to identify an Arkansas resident agent for service of process and describe the equipment.
Rule No. 2, Section IV sets the license to apply seed, fertilizer and pesticides at $100, plus $20 for each aircraft or article of ground equipment. An individual commercial applicator license is $35 per category. A commercial applicator technician license is $25.
The firm packet runs on Form DP-29 for the firm application, Form DP-30 for each applicator, proof of financial responsibility, and a power of attorney form where one applies. Custom work uses Form DP-32 and tree injector work Form DP-35. The Department lists a $250 advance deposit for custom permits and $10 per injector for tree injector permits, capped at $250.
If your work is termite and other wood destroying pest control, household pest control, fumigation or ornamental pest management in structures, you are under the State Plant Board's Pest Control Rules rather than this filing, and the calendar is different. Those licenses renew before June 30 annually. License holder fees run $100 for 0 to 30 registered agents, $250 for 31 to 60, and $500 for 61 or more. Commercial applicator fees under that program are $150 for the first classification and $100 for each additional one, capped at $300 per applicator, with a $5 reporting fee for each building on which a contract has been issued and a $10 late fee once a report is 30 days overdue. Those rules require license holders to give the Department copies of all required surety bond or insurance policies. Do not file December 31 paperwork against a June 30 license.
Passing your category exams and holding a current applicator certification gets you the credential. It does nothing about this filing. The Plant Board will not issue the license without proof of financial responsibility, no matter how many categories you have passed.
If you are already updating filings for the year, list the company on BestPestControlIn.com. It is free for any licensed pest control company, consumers search it by ZIP code and state, your listing carries a backlink that helps your own site rank, it sends referrals, and we write blog posts on companies in the directory.
No. Ark. Code Ann. 20-20-209(d) gives four options: a letter of credit from an Arkansas bank, a surety bond, an escrow account with an Arkansas bank, or an insurance policy or certification of one from an insurer or surplus lines broker authorized in Arkansas. Most firms file the insurance certificate on Form DP-44 because the policy does double duty.
No. Rule No. 2, Section V sets a flat $100,000 minimum. It does not scale with acreage, revenue, category, number of aircraft or number of ground rigs. Additional equipment affects the license fee, not the financial responsibility figure.
Two groups. Rule No. 2, Section V says the requirement does not apply to Seed Treatment Applicators or Regulatory Pest Control Applicators. Separately, 20-20-209(f) exempts from licensing a person who maintains equipment for his own use, is not in the business of applying pesticides for hire, does not hold himself out as an applicator, and works only near his own or rented property to accommodate neighbors. That person still must comply with 20-20-210 or 20-20-211 when using or supervising the use of a restricted use pesticide.
No. Section 20-20-209(a) covers the aerial application of seed or fertilizers to the lands of another as well as pesticide application. The license and the financial responsibility filing apply.
Not on the insurance option as the statute writes it. Section 20-20-209(d)(1)(D) provides that the insurance is not applied to damages or injury to agricultural crops, plants or land being worked upon by the commercial applicator. That is a real gap in what the state minimum does for you, because the $100,000 is a licensing threshold rather than risk transfer. Price a policy that actually addresses it, including pollution and drift coverage, at PestControlLiability.com.
You must notify the State Plant Board ten days before any reduction in liability. If the liability becomes unsatisfactory you must immediately execute new liability upon notice. Fail to do that and the board cancels the license and notifies you, and it is unlawful to keep applying pesticides until the liability is back in compliance and the license is reinstated.
December 31 of each year, unless revoked or suspended sooner. The Department emails renewal notices each November. Note the board may condition renewal on reexamination for current competence.
Rule No. 2, Section IV sets the license to apply seed, fertilizer and pesticides at $100, plus $20 for each aircraft or article of ground equipment. An individual commercial applicator license is $35 per category and a commercial applicator technician license is $25. Custom permits carry a $250 advance deposit and tree injector permits $10 per injector up to $250.
Probably not. Structural pest control runs under the State Plant Board Pest Control Rules and renews before June 30 annually. License holder fees there are $100 for 0 to 30 registered agents, $250 for 31 to 60, and $500 for 61 or more, with commercial applicator fees of $150 for the first classification and $100 for each additional, capped at $300, plus a $5 per building reporting fee and a $10 late fee after 30 days. That program requires copies of all required surety bond or insurance policies to be filed with the Department.
No. The qualifying individual's examination and the financial responsibility filing are separate requirements. The Plant Board will not issue the license without proof of financial responsibility, no matter how many categories have been passed.
There is no set rate. Premium is determined by underwriting, mainly the owners' credit and the firm's financial and operating history. Get a quote on your own file rather than relying on a percentage printed on a website, and compare it against a liability policy, which satisfies the same requirement and actually pays claims on your behalf. PestControlLiability.com will quote the insurance side, including general liability, pollution, workers compensation, property and equipment, drone operations, termite and bedbug, lawncare and remediation.
List the company on BestPestControlIn.com. It is free for any licensed pest control company, searchable by ZIP code and state, the listing gives you a backlink that helps your own site rank, it sends referrals, and we write blog posts on listed companies.
This website is a referral and marketing platform that connects users with licensed insurance agents. We do not issue surety bonds directly except in states where we are licensed. All bond applications are processed and fulfilled by licensed agents. By using this site, you agree to our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, and the use of cookies. If you do not agree, please exit the site.
