No matter which type of surety bond you need, whether it be a local Portsmouth bond,  Scioto county bond, state of Ohio bond or a federal bond, getting a surety bond at the best price is much easier today than it was only a few years ago. Why? Because it's much easier to shop around for a surety bond with changes that have both helped simplify the process, and offered more options.


    Before, everything involving surety bonds ran at a snail's pace!

• The fact that there are literally thousands of different types of surety bonds made it impossible to develop an efficient and organized quoting system.
• The surety bond industry was slow to catch up with new technologies that the internet brought such as online quoting and faster communication.
• Insurance agents were for the most part only able to approach one surety bond company at a time. There were no networks of surety bond brokerage companies, to where an agent could shop your quote around with dozens of companies with just one application.

   As a result, the process of finding the best priced surety bond was nearly impossible. It took about a day or two just to get a surety bond quote from a couple of different companies. And it could sometimes take even longer between the time that the buyer paid for the bond, to the time when they actually received the bond paperwork they needed.
Today the process of getting a surety bond at the best price is much simpler and exponentially faster!

• There are networks that carry dozens of surety bond companies that an independent insurance agent can get appointed with.
• You simply let your agent know what type of bond you need and the amount that you need the bond to cover you for.
• From there, the insurance agent does the grunt work for you. This includes both finding exactly the right application to fill out and submitting it to the network(s) they're appointed with.
• Your agent will soon contact you back with the surety bond company that came out the cheapest for the bond you need.

 The process is really that simple! Many people who carry surety bonds are reluctant to shop around because they remembered what a pain it was getting the surety bond active in the first place. But it's not that way anymore! Chances are that you are overpaying for your surety bond.


Get a Surety Bond Quote with Lyles Insurance


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 If you've lived in Ohio long enough, I'm sure you've heard the term "SR22 Bond" before. For many drivers, obtaining an SR22 and filing it with the state BMV is usually one of the last hoops a driver has to jump through before having their driver's license reinstated after a suspension. But the term "SR22 Bond" is actually an incorrect term that leads to confusion about what an SR22 filing actually is. The important thing is to set your Ohio SR22 filing up with the correct type of auto insurance policy that you need it to be attached to.


    Understand that an "SR22 bond" is really not a bond at all, nor is it auto insurance either......


    Ok. So ..... If an SR22 is not a bond or auto insurance, then what is it?


    An SR22 is simply a state filing that attaches onto some sort of auto insurance policy.  An SR22 lets the BMV know that you're carrying at least the state minimum auto liability insurance coverage at all times. When you buy any kind of auto insurance policy, having an SR22 filing attached to it means that the insurance company will let the BMV know that you are now covered with at least state minimum auto insurance liability coverage.


   Why it is important to keep an SR22 active?


  If an auto insurance policy with an attached SR22 filing ever cancels, the insurance company is required to let the BMV know the policy is canceled. When this happens, your license is once again suspended and will continue to be suspended unless you reinstate your policy or start a new one with a new SR22 attached under the new policy.




   Which type of auto insurance policy do I need to have my SR22 filing attached to?

• For anyone who owns a vehicle or has a vehicle registered in their name, they're going to want to take out a regular auto insurance policy, and attach the SR22 filing onto it.

• For drivers who need an SR22 but don't own a vehicle, you then have two options: either a named operator policy or a financial responsibility bond. An SR22 can attach to either type of policy for a non-vehicle owner.

     From the term financial responsibility bond is how we've incorrectly derived the terminology of SR22 bond. Ohio is the only state that has financial responsibility bonds, and that's why you only hear this term here in the Buckeye state. For non vehicle owners in almost any other state, only a named operator is available. Only Ohio offers both types of policies (but individual auto insurance companies may only offer one or the other).
    
    In Ohio, financial responsibility bonds are more common than named operator policies because of the fact that they're cheaper and don't use credit as a rating factor, both of which make them more popular choice. But named operator policies offer more and higher coverage than a financial responsibility bond. To learn more about the differences between a financial responsibility bond and a named operator policy, read this article which breaks down the similarities and differences between the two.




Can a vehicle owner get away with just a named operator policy or financial responsibility bond instead of carrying regular auto insurance?

• For a named operator policy, the answer is absolutely not! That's because named operator policies do not cover owned vehicles.

• For a vehicle owner to just have a financial responsibility bond, technically yes that is legal as far as the BMV is concerned (as long as the bond extends liability coverage to owned vehicles, which most do). But it's a terrible strategy to have just to save a few bucks. The coverage on a financial responsibility bond is entirely inadequate for someone who owns a vehicle. If you own a vehicle or have a vehicle registered in your name, be smart about it, and purchase regular auto insurance coverage.

Can a vehicle owner carry two separate policies, regular auto insurance coverage for their vehicle and a financial responsibility bond to cover their SR22 requirement?


  Yes. As long as you're carrying regular auto insurance coverage on your vehicle, a second policy would be fine to use just for the purposes of filing the SR22. However, in most cases, this is the more expensive way to solve the problem versus simply attaching an SR22 onto a regular auto insurance policy.




However, I have seen plenty of cases where the opposite is true. Sometimes it is cheaper for a driver to carry two separate policies. I find this especially true with the following scenarios:

• A homeowner who has recently received a DUI and is still flying under the radar with their regular auto insurance company.

• A person who has regular auto insurance and is paying a very good rate but their auto insurance company does not file SR22's.

• Someone living in one state but needing an SR22 filing in another.

Summary:


   When you say to an auto insurance agent "I need an SR22 Bond", don't worry. We understand what you mean. I even use the term myself many times. But the important thing to remember is to set your SR22 up correctly for the coverage you need. As long as you do that, terminology is not important.


If you would like to get an online Ohio SR22 quote for any of these types of policies, click on one of the three links below. I will be happy to do the shopping around for you, and find you the company with the best rate for your coverage needs. And as always, I handle all quotes personally and privately.


 Get an SR22 Auto Insurance Quote with Lyles Insurance


Get an SR22 FR Bond quote with Lyles Insurance


 Get an SR22 Named operator quote with Lyles Insurance


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Related Blog Articles:

​Video: Basics of an Ohio Financial Responsibility Bond

What you need to know before you buy an Ohio SR22 Bond Online

What is an Ohio SR22 Bond?

Ohio SR22 Bond FAQ's

How long will it take for my License to be Reinstated after I buy an Ohio SR22 Bond?