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Chad's 180: Bail Rebates Done Right Under Prop 103

Part 1: The Method

By Chad Conley, licensed California bail agent

Listen to this page (6 min). Read by an AI voice.

This is how I believe Prop 103 rebates should be handled, and why. Take it, question it, and check it against your own surety and your own attorney.

Two things the Department of Insurance says

• "Each surety company must file rates with CDI and bail agents representing a surety must charge the same filed rates."
• "A bail agent may choose to negotiate a lower fee by rebating, as allowed by Proposition 103."

Source: California Department of Insurance, Bail Bonds page

How the 180 works

Every agent has two relationships on every bond, and almost everyone mixes them up.

First, face the surety. The surety has filed its rates with the state. Your surety might file a 10, a 9, an 8, a 7, or something else, and each one comes with listed qualifications. For example, a surety might file 10% as standard; 8% for things like a union member, a government employee, retained private counsel, or full property collateral; and 7% for a private attorney referral with the premium paid in full.

Your first job is to figure out which filed category this client qualifies for, and get the proof. That category decides what you owe the surety and the build-up fund. The surety files it, the state has it, and you don't get to invent a category.

Then, turn 180 degrees and face the client. Now the question is different: out of your own commission, do you offer a rebate? That's your decision, and Prop 103 says it can't be unfairly discriminatory. So it's written, it has a start and end date, it has stated qualifications, and every client who meets them gets the same offer.

Three clients, one $100,000 bond

Say your agency has one written rebate running this half of the year: parents with three or more kids and household income under $2,000 a month get a net 6%. Three clients walk in the same week, all parents of three, all under the income line.

All three clients paid the same $6,000 because all three qualified for the same written offer. That's fair, and that's what "not unfairly discriminatory" looks like in practice. What changed is how much came out of your pocket, which is exactly why you face the surety first.

The surety files the rate. The agent decides the rebate. Every dollar of rebate comes out of the agent's end, never the surety's.

Why I believe this matters

When a shop haggles case by case, it can drop to 5% on the bonds it wants badly and make up for it on everybody else. Nobody sees it, and the agent down the street can't compete with a price he doesn't even know exists.

When everybody does it the right way, written down and offered to every client who qualifies, that ends. Your lowest price is your price for everyone who meets the terms. It's fair to the client, it's fair to the agent next door, and I believe it's the solo agent and the agency with a team that benefit most, because service wins when the price is in the open.

The receipt

Every agent already has to give the client a numbered statement, and already has to keep complete records. Nothing new to build. Just add four lines to the receipt that already exists:

1. The surety rate applied (10%, or the qualified rate) and the reason
2. Agency rebates offered today (none, or the rebate, its end date, and whether the client qualified)
3. The agency rebate amount
4. The net premium paid

And one client signature: "I was shown the rebate section above and the price shown is what I agreed to pay."

It goes in the file with everything else. If anyone ever says you played favorites on price, the file shows what was offered and what was paid.

Quick card

1. Face the surety. Find the filed category and get the proof.
2. Turn 180 and face the client. Check every written rebate, and ask every client.
3. Four lines on the receipt, one signature.
4. File it with the bond paperwork.

Each agency decides its own prices. Nothing here suggests what anyone else should charge.

Want the numbers?

Part 2 shows why doing it this way protects every agent, with real-size examples.

If you're with me, email me and tell me you're in on doing rebates the right way. If you've got a real reason this won't work, or something that makes it stronger, send that too. Please don't send me your prices.

Chad Conley Chad Conley Bail Bonds [email protected]