Virginia Code 59.1-434.3: Bond or letter of credit required
A. Every provider shall maintain a funded reserve account for its obligations under its home service contracts issued and outstanding in the Commonwealth. The reserves shall not be less than 40 percent of gross consideration received, less claims paid, on the sale of the home service contract for all in-force home service contracts sold in the Commonwealth.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 59.1-434.3
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services or his designee. See Virginia Code 59.1-434.1
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Home service contract: means a contract or agreement for a separately stated consideration for any duration to perform the service, repair, replacement, or maintenance of property or to indemnify for the costs of service, repair, replacement, or maintenance, for the operational failure of any property due to a defect in materials, workmanship, inherent defect, or normal wear and tear, with or without additional provisions for incidental payment of indemnity under limited circumstances. See Virginia Code 59.1-434.1
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Property: means any component, part, appliance, or household system of a residential property that is covered by a contract, whether such component, part, appliance, or household system is personal property or is affixed as real property to the covered residential property. See Virginia Code 59.1-434.1
- Provider: means a person that is contractually obligated to the purchaser under the terms of the home service contract. See Virginia Code 59.1-434.1
B. Each provider, before it is registered under § 59.1-434.2, shall file and maintain with the Commissioner, in form and substance satisfactory to him, a bond with corporate surety, from a company authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth or a letter of credit from a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in the amount of $10,000. Additional bond or letter of credit amounts shall be similarly filed with the Commissioner and shall be adjusted from time to time, in accordance with the following schedule:
| a | Total Amount of Unexpired Home Service Contracts | Amount of Bond or Letter of Credit |
| b | $50,001 to $300,000 | $40,000 |
| c | $300,001 to $750,000 | $65,000 |
| d | $750,001 or more | $90,000 |
The total amount of unexpired home service contracts shall be the total consideration paid by all purchasers to the provider for all home service contracts currently in effect. The bond or letter of credit required by this subsection shall be in favor of the Commonwealth for the benefit of purchasers of home service contracts for property in the event that the provider does not fulfill its obligations under such home service contracts for any reason, including insolvency or bankruptcy.
C. The aggregate liability of the bond or letter of credit to all persons for all breaches of the conditions of the bond or letter of credit shall in no event exceed the amount of the bond or letter of credit. The bond or letter of credit shall not be cancelled or terminated except with the consent of the Commissioner.
D. In lieu of compliance with subsections A and B, a provider may demonstrate financial responsibility by filing with the Commissioner a copy of a liability insurance policy issued by an insurer authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth and that covers 100 percent of the provider’s home service contract liabilities, including the administration of claims and the cost for such administration. Reimbursement insurance policies filed pursuant to this section may not be canceled by either the provider or the issuing insurer without providing 60 days’ notice to the Commissioner.
2017, c. 727.