Author Archives: Christine Cusatis

Surety Professionals Should Heed New Insurance Regulatory Guidance

By Dan Bonnet In the wake of some of the largest data breaches to hit health insurance companies, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has followed on the heels of the Securities and Exchange Commission and has issued guidance on cybersecurity. Because nearly all surety bonds in the United States are underwritten by subsidiaries or divisions of insurance companies, ...

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The digital edition of Surety Bond Quarterly is just a click away

NASBP’s official magazine, Surety Bond Quarterly, is now available in a convenient digital format. Our summer issue focuses on the many facets that make up the world of suretyship. Read about 2015-2016 NASBP President Susan Hecker, the red flags all contractors should be aware of when trying to avoid claims, the importance of developing a signature leadership style, the American Institue ...

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From the CEO: Is 114 Our Lucky Number?

This is our fourth issue of the Surety Bond Quarterly and the first spring issue. It is fitting that a spring issue focus on the importance  of surety advocacy, as spring is the season of renewal, where the cold, laconic days of winter are replaced with days of increasing light and warmth and the possibilities of new directions and actions ...

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What Surety Professionals and their Contractors Should Know about Construction Claims Prevention

Construction claims prevention can be accomplished most effectively early in the project’s lifecycle. When the design is sufficiently complete to enable qualified contractors to submit bids for the construction work, careful review of the contract requirements and terms and conditions by the contractor offers the greatest opportunity for claims prevention. Once contracts are executed and construction begins, the prevention of ...

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Value Added: Surety Industry Proves its Worth When Projects Hit Snags

Construction is an inherently risky undertaking, as each project represents a confluence of unique elements. Problems of all sorts can arise, including bankruptcy of the contractor or a key specialty trade contractor. Sureties mitigate such risks by ensuring a pool of qualified bidders on bonded construction contracts. Nonetheless, defaults do occur, and sureties, which offer performance and payment guarantees, step ...

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Developing Leadership Skills and Future Leaders

Ask someone to describe a leader, and they may use adjectives like “outgoing,” “confident,” “forceful” and maybe even “brash.” While those adjectives might have been accurate descriptors at one time, the leadership model has changed a great deal in the last 10 to 20 years. In the surety industry and many other industries, we are moving away from the authoritarian ...

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Construction Credibility

Humble beginnings groom U.S. Representative Richard Hanna (R-NY-22) to have an ear for surety bond interests in his role as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce. READ MORE

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The Court Decides …

In a recently issued decision, the Supreme Court of Connecticut in Electrical Contractors Inc. v. Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania, 314 Conn. 749 (2014) (ECI), rejected a payment bond claimant’s efforts to read an implied default provision into the language of the state’s Little Miller Act. The claimant argued that a surety that fails to pay or deny ...

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Rules and Regulations

On Dec. 15, 2014, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice each issued a press release that begins as follows: “WASHINGTON – Forrester Construction Company has agreed to pay $2.15 million to the United States and implement internal reforms to resolve a criminal investigation into alleged fraud committed by the company in connection with the use of Certified Business ...

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NASBP on Capitol Hill

On June 10, NASBP members, affiliates, and associates will meet with their members of Congress on Capitol Hill for the annual NASBP Legislative Fly-in. The event will begin the evening of Tuesday, June 9, at a pre-Fly-in reception at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, during which NASBP will provide talking points for Fly-in attendees. If ...

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