On January 8, 2014, NASBP President Larry McMahon, announced two new NASBP educational resources. The first is on the claims handling process and the second is on the bond verification process. These two new resources are the result of NASBP’s direct response to the stated interest of its Members, Associates, and Affiliates for many and various educational materials from NASBP. The second document, "Always Verify Your Bond!," is discussed in the Legal Spotlight in this issue of Pipeline.
The first document is "Frequently Asked Questions from Bond Producers About Their Role in the Contract Bond Claims Process." This resource is formatted into FAQs and general guidance responses for bond producers when they are faced with the inevitable and various questions from obligees, principals, claimants, attorneys, and the press. These questions and answers do not provide legal advice, but they do provide illustrative guidance to bond producers.
If you haven’t yet read this new resource, you can find it on the NASBP website in the Producer’s Toolbox or you can access it by clicking
here.
In order to highlight this new educational tool, NASBP will feature in this current issue and in future issues of Pipeline one of the FAQs and the general guidance response to that question. Below is the first FAQ and response:
I received a call from a subcontractor on a project who says he/she is not getting paid by my general contractor client and he/she want to file a claim. How do I respond?
Provide the caller with the address (email and fax number, as necessary) of the surety claims department, if known, and suggest that the caller or his or her own attorney contact the surety directly with regard to any claim. You may also try to obtain the name and contact information of the caller and pass it on to the principal and the surety claims department.
Do not comment on the specifics and/or merits of the claim or any investigation or suggest what you think may be the outcome of any investigation. |
Be on the lookout for a highlighted FAQ and response from this new document in future issues of Pipeline. NASBP would be very pleased to hear your comments on these FAQs and your suggestions for other FAQs to include in a future version of the FAQs. Share your thoughts about this document at
info@nasbp.org.