Title Insurance Agent Bond - Statewide in Pennsylvania

Brief Summary

Pennsylvania puts a $100,000 floor on the title agent surety bond and bars your appointing underwriter from providing or paying for it, so the agency has to place it on its own. We write it on the Insurance Department's prescribed form, and under the statute it stays in force until cancelled instead of lapsing with each license term.

Every agent for a title insurance company in Pennsylvania must post a surety bond of at least $100,000 under 40 P.S. 910-26.1(3), on the form prescribed by the Insurance Department. The bond secures the agent's fiduciary duties. It is separate from the $150,000 blanket fidelity bond and the errors and omissions coverage required by the same section, and the title insurer may not provide it. Title insurers themselves are exempt.

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How to Apply for a Title Insurance Agent Bond:

• Decide which license you are bonding: an individual title agent or a title insurance business entity.
• Get the surety bond form prescribed by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and confirm the current version and filing steps before the bond is issued.
• Set the penal sum at no less than $100,000.
• Provide the agency's legal name exactly as licensed, plus owner details for underwriting.
• Pay the premium from agency funds. The appointing title insurer may not provide or pay for the bond.
• Place the $150,000 blanket fidelity bond and the E&O policy at the same time, or file the fidelity waiver affidavit if the agency has no employees beyond its owners.

Detailed Information About the Pennsylvania Title Insurance Agent Bond:

Three separate requirements, not one

Section 726.1 of the Insurance Company Law of 1921, codified at 40 P.S. 910-26.1 and added by Act 1995-79, lists what agents for a title insurance company must carry. Many applicants assume a single bond covers all of it. It does not.

• A surety bond of not less than $100,000, in the form prescribed by the Insurance Department, securing the agent's fiduciary duties and responsibilities. This is the bond on this page.
• A blanket fidelity bond covering all agency employees of at least $150,000, with a deductible no larger than 15 percent of the bond penalty.
• Errors and omissions insurance of at least $250,000 per claim and $500,000 aggregate, with a deductible no greater than $25,000.

The fidelity waiver does not reach the surety bond

An agency with no employees other than its owners, partners or stockholders may apply to the Insurance Department to waive the fidelity bond, using the Department's Affidavit for Waiver of Fidelity Bond Requirement. That waiver covers the fidelity bond only. The $100,000 surety bond still has to be posted. The only exemption written into the surety bond paragraph is for title insurers themselves.

Who counts as the agency

For this section, an agency is an individual person, partnership, corporation or other legal entity that conducts the business of title insurance on behalf of a title insurer. The same section requires the agent to hold all funds due the title insurer in a fiduciary capacity at a bank or other financial institution insured by a federal agency, and to keep separate records for each title insurer.

Who pays and how long it lasts

The title insurance agent pays the premium. A title insurance company may not provide the bond directly or indirectly on the agent's behalf. The bond must be executed by an insurance company authorized to do business in Pennsylvania. It remains in full force until cancelled, and a surety that cancels must give the Insurance Department 30 days' notice before the cancellation takes effect. The surety's aggregate liability for all breaches is capped at the penal sum.

Licensing

Individual title agent and title insurance business entity licenses are applied for and renewed through Sircon or NIPR on a two year term. The Insurance Department lists a $55 resident fee and a $110 nonresident fee for each. Confirm the current prescribed bond form and filing steps with the Insurance Department's producer licensing office before the bond is issued.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Pennsylvania Title Insurance Agent Bond:

• Surety bond of not less than $100,000 under 40 P.S. 910-26.1(3).
• Executed by an insurance company authorized to do business in Pennsylvania.
• Written on the form prescribed by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
• Blanket fidelity bond of at least $150,000 with a deductible no larger than 15 percent of the penalty, unless waived by the Department.
• Errors and omissions coverage of at least $250,000 per claim and $500,000 aggregate, with a deductible no greater than $25,000.
• Funds due the title insurer held in a fiduciary capacity at a federally insured bank or financial institution.

Pennsylvania Title Insurance Agent Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Pennsylvania Title Insurance Agent Bond: