Liberty Mutual adds bond product to support contractors

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group's Liberty Mutual Surety has launched Liberty Mutual Surety Plus, a product to support small and mid-sized surety and contract transactional business, the insurer said in a statement Wednesday.

Available through independent agents, Surety Plus allows contractors to secure standard bond programs up to $25 million, transactional bonds up to $3 million, subdivision bonds and bonds that need special risk underwriting such as collateral, funds administration or Small Business Administration support, the statement said.

Contract transactional refers to primarily small, credit-based contract bonds, a type of surety bond that can be underwritten quickly, sometimes with just a credit check, a Liberty Mutual spokesman said in an email.

Surety Plus also includes specific contract bond capabilities such as subdivision bonds for developers and homebuilders, and a program specifically for “nonstandard business,” including contractors who may have hit a rough patch financially and would have difficulty obtaining a bond in the standard market or new contractors without an established record of project and financial success, the spokesman said.

Surety Plus’s introduction comes several months after Liberty Mutual acquired the U.S surety operations of AmTrust Insurance, the statement said.