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2750 BC- Herodotus alludes to the use of contracts of suretyship.

1750 BC- Provisions in the Code of Hammurabi refers to contracts of suretyship.

670 BC- The oldest surviving surety contract was found in Babylonia.

75 BC- Julius Caesar uses suretyship contracts to guarantee payments of his debt.

1025 AD- In England " No man could either buy or exchange unless he has a bond.

1720- In London, the first recorded attempt to create a company fidelity business.

1865- A U.S. Corp., Fidelity Insurance Company, received a charter to write bonds.

1935- The Miller Act was enacted in the US and required bonds for Federal Projects

1973- Thompson Agency was formed to provide all types of surety bonds.

Suretyship is the oldest form of insurance known to man.  In the earliest relationships of barter and exchange, man has bound himself to others by one device or another giving his personal bond as guarantee.  A maxim inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi in ancient Greece hints at the unenviable risk of surety, "Act as surety, and thy ruin is at hand."  King Solomon added that "He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it, and he that hateth suretyship is sure."  So you see, surety has a rich history and continues to play a major role in contemporary society through the role of corporate suretyship guarantees.

Surety though is not Insurance.  It is similar to banking because it involves the granting of credit. This extension of credit obligates the Surety who provides bonds as guarantees, on behalf of a principal, for a payment or performance obligation to another (the obligee).  The principal is obligated to repay the surety for any and all losses because of the surety's guarantee to the obligee.  In theory a surety will never sustain any losses because it will be indemnified by the principal for whom the surety offered the guarantee.

Miller Act.   The Miller Act was passed in 1935 to protect taxpayers' dollars and to protect the rights of laborers, suppliers and subcontractors in the event a contractor fails to complete a federal public works project.  The Miller Act requires performance and payment bonds for any federal contract in excess of $100,000.  The use of surety bonds makes it possible for contractors to bid on public construction projects under a competitive sealed bid system where the work is awarded to the lowest bidder.

Little Miller Act.  The Little Miller Act refers to laws governing the requirements of bonds for state funded public projects.  

 

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