Bond Aggregator or Surety Agency? How to Choose the Right Partner

A bond aggregator is a third-party platform that lets insurance agents route one bond application to multiple carriers. While aggregators can be convenient for agents who are new to surety, they have significant tradeoffs, including lower commissions, less control over carrier selection, limited underwriting visibility, and weaker post-placement support. Thus, agents who want to offer their clients superior service and earn higher commissions may want to partner with a specialized surety bond agency like BOSS Bonds instead. 

What Agents Should Know Before Using a Bond Aggregator

As an insurance agent, adding surety bonds to your offerings is a smart way to grow your business. Not only can surety bonds boost your revenue, but they can also set your business apart from the competition by enabling your clients to meet a broader range of risk management needs in-house. 

While their benefits are clear, determining how to place surety bonds can be complex. Should you use a surety bond aggregator? Or is there a better alternative?

In this article, we explain what bond aggregators are, how they work, and their pros and cons. We also highlight how they differ from surety bond agencies, so you can determine which option is right for your business. 

What Is a Bond Aggregator?

A bond aggregator is a third-party platform that enables insurance agents to route a single bond application to multiple carriers. These platforms are typically used for commercial bonds, license and permit bonds, and other low-complexity transactions.

An aggregator's appeal lies in its promise of speed and convenience. If you don’t have any direct surety relationships or you only write bonds occasionally, you may consider using a bond aggregator. But first, it’s important to weigh their pros and cons. 

Read More: 10 Most Common Questions About Commercial Surety Bonds Answered

Why Do Agents Use Bond Aggregators?

Bond aggregators offer some compelling benefits, which is why they’re a common choice among insurance agents. Their advantages include:

• One application for multiple markets – Bond aggregators allow you to submit a single application for each client. From there, the platform will route the application to various carriers on your behalf. 
• Access to unfamiliar markets – Bond aggregators can connect you and your clients with carriers and bond types you haven’t placed before.
• Speed – Bond aggregators’ centralized systems streamline submissions, eliminating the burden of filling out and sending separate applications to each carrier.
• Ease of use for beginners – If you’re new to surety, using a bond aggregator can seem like an easy way to tap into markets before building your own carrier relationships.

Read More: Common Mistakes P&C Agents Make with Surety Bonds & How to Avoid Them

5 Tradeoffs of Using Bond Aggregators

While bond aggregators provide some benefits for beginners, they’re not the best long-term solution for agents who are serious about building out their bonding business. 

So, what are the downsides of bond aggregators? Their cons include:

1. Lower commissions – Surety bonds can boost your commissions. However, if you go through an aggregator, you’ll have to share a portion of your commissions on every placement. 
2. Less control – You work hard to satisfy your clients and earn their trust. Unfortunately, aggregators don’t allow you to choose which carriers write their bonds or what terms they receive, limiting your ability to ensure their satisfaction. 
3. Lack of direct underwriter relationships – Building relationships with surety underwriters can help you advocate for better terms, faster approvals, and stronger support for your clients. Since aggregators serve as the middlemen to your bond placements, they can limit your ability to influence underwriting decisions.
4. Limited visibility – Clients often turn to their insurance agent for clarity regarding a carrier's underwriting process. Since aggregators offer limited insight into underwriting decisions, you may never learn why a client’s application was declined or where it stands, making it difficult to provide this type of support. 
5. Post-sale service gaps – Surety bonds often require ongoing support for renewals and claims. Aggregators rarely provide these post-sale services, which can erode your clients’ trust and reduce their long-term satisfaction.

4 Key Questions Agents Should Ask Before Using an Aggregator

Since aggregators come with pros and cons, it’s important to evaluate them carefully. You can determine if using a bond aggregator is right for you by asking the following questions:

1. Do you charge fees or take a cut of my commissions? – One of the major perks of providing surety bonds is earning commissions. Thus, finding out how much an aggregator charges for placements is crucial. 
2. Can I speak with underwriters directly? – Some bond cases are more complex than others. If you can’t contact underwriters, you may struggle to answer your clients’ questions and guide them through the process.  
3. Will I know which carrier is writing the bond? – As an insurance agent, you need to know which carriers are backing your clients’ bond and why their underwriters made their decisions. 
4. How do you handle bond servicing, renewals, or claims? – Lastly, make sure to clarify the scope of their post-placement services. 

These questions can help you assess whether working with a bond aggregator will help or hurt your client relationships. Based on prospective aggregators’ answers, you can determine whether you’d be better off partnering with a surety-focused agency instead. 

Bond Aggregator vs. Surety Bond Agency: What’s the Difference?

Is a bond aggregator the same as a surety bond agency? No, while bond aggregators and surety bond agencies both connect agents with surety carriers, they function very differently. 

As you can see, aggregators function like clearing houses—they simply pass applications around to multiple carriers without much personal involvement. In contrast, surety agencies like BOSS Bonds function like a true partner, guiding you and your clients through the bonding process at every stage. 

Why Partnering with BOSS Bonds Is a Smarter Option

Bond aggregators can seem convenient, but partnering with a dedicated surety agency like BOSS Bonds may be a better fit. Here’s what sets our surety agency apart from aggregators:

• Broad market access and personalized guidance – Along with connecting you with 25+ carriers across the country, we can help you choose the best-fit bond for each of your clients.
• Full transparency – We’ll keep you in the loop at every stage, letting you know which carrier is backing your client’s bond, the reason behind their underwriting decision, and what to expect next.
• Higher commissions – Unlike aggregators, we don’t charge costly platform fees or deductions. 
• Surety expertise – Many aggregators treat surety as a side business, but at BOSS Bonds, it’s our sole focus. 
• Personalized support – Our team is made up of real people—not just an automated platform. As a result, you’ll enjoy hands-on support for your clients’ bond placements, renewals, and claims.

Achieve Better Outcomes With BOSS Bonds

In summary, bond aggregators offer a quick pathway to surety bonding. However, this convenience often comes at the cost of your commissions, control, and client relationships.

The good news? You can enjoy the same broad market access by partnering with BOSS Bonds. Along with our access to 25+ nationwide carriers, we provide expert support, superior transparency, and comprehensive post-placement services. 

Ready to place bonds faster with support from real surety experts? Partner with BOSS Bonds today!

Key Takeaways

• Surety bond aggregators provide a convenient way to place bonds, as they let insurance agents submit one application to multiple carriers through a centralized platform.
• While convenient, bond aggregators also have several downsides, including lower commissions, limited control over carrier selection, less insight into underwriting decisions, and a lack of post-placement support.
• Surety-focused agencies like BOSS Bonds are often a superior option, thanks to their broad market access, higher commission retention, and personalized, ongoing support.