Disclosures

Regarding ownership:

Acora Surety & Insurance Services, LLC, is owned by Goldleaf Financial, Ltd., the same parent company that owns Goldleaf Surety Services, LLC. (Goldleaf Surety Services is a national surety broker.)

Regarding the possibility of additional compensation:

It is standard practice for surety companies to pay their agencies a commission calculated from the premium charged on the bond. This commission typically is Acora’s principal remuneration for the issuance and service of the surety bonds it issues. However, some surety companies offer their agencies an opportunity for possible additional compensation above the standard commission structure. This additional compensation usually is based on a variety of factors determined by the surety company and relates to overall performance standards they wish the agency to meet. For example, factors affecting contingent commissions may include the overall premium volume the particular agency places with their company, specific goals for the growth of that volume, the agency's retention of accounts with them, the claims experience or "aggregate loss experience" of accounts the agency writes with them, etc.

If the surety company that has approved your bond has arrangements in place with Acora for this type of contingent compensation (in addition to their standard commission arrangements with us), the amount of the additional compensation is not and cannot be itemized here. This is true, because the contingent commissions that may become payable to Acora depend on a variety of factors that cannot be determined in advance or even at the time any single bond is issued. The amounts payable under these programs typically are calculated at the end of each calendar year and are paid in the following year. Also, these forms of additional compensation relate generally to all of the other bonds Acora may write with that surety company during the course of a year – and only indirectly to your particular bond(s).

Please be advised that Acora also may realize a small amount of income each year from interest income earned on premiums customers pay to it (while Acora is in possession of those funds but before it remits the net premiums owed to the surety companies) as well as from Acora’s standard charges for overnight courier services and other direct expenses incurred in connection with the issuance and delivery of its bonds. Because an agency’s office and accounting systems typically are not designed to capture and allocate the actual interest earned and actual costs of this type (as may be incurred specifically in connection with each individual client’s account), these types of addition income also are not and cannot be itemized for you.