Surety Services

Meeting your business objectives is a matter of deploying the right resources in the right direction, in the right amount, at the right time. YA has developed specific programs to assist clients in handling the large volume and diversity of non-contract bond claims. Our Surety Group professionals are highly experienced in investigating, managing, processing, and resolving these types of claims in the most efficient manner available. Every day, across the country, we handle commercial, non-contract surety bond claims of every type. A partial list includes:

• License and Permit bonds
• Probate bonds
• Court bonds
• Fiduciary bonds
• Other miscellaneous bonds

When a surety bond company incurs losses from a surety claim, taking action immediately minimizes losses. Our contract bond claim professionals possess the knowledge and surety-side expertise to coordinate, investigate, and complete every contract bond claim so you can efficiently and expeditiously resolve your claims. Contract bond claim services include:

• Bid bonds
• Performance bonds
• Payment bonds
• Maintenance bonds
• Environmental bonds
• Supply bonds
• Subdivision bonds

YA’s Disbursement Control Services ensure that construction funds are disbursed from an independent third party and specifically directed to the bonded project. Synchronizing payments with objectively verified completed work remains the best way to instill new levels of accountability and efficiency. The degree of our involvement relies solely upon your discretion. Disbursement control services include:

• On-site job inspections
• Direct application of project funds
• Itemized project accounting
• Specialized surety requirements

Since it is almost always in your best interest to avoid a protracted court battle, YA’s expertise proves invaluable in bringing clarity and expediency to the matter. In the pre-trial stages, we offer pointed assistance in the discovery process. Should trial become necessary, we also provide litigation support and expert witness testimony. Our analyses compare planned versus actual design and construction in three-dimensional terms. We take resourcing, methods, logistical constraints, and the acts of the involved parties into account. We identify critical paths, passages of delay and acceleration, constructive changes, estimating errors, and untimely changes. We quantify damages, identify responsible parties, and provide clear and persuasive information to assist counsel in securing a positive outcome. Litigation support services you’ll want in your corner:

• Document discovery assistance and review
• Case theme development
• Document management
• Deposition assistance
• Critique of opposing experts’ analyses
• Trial exhibit preparation
• Expert testimony
• Legal graphics

As projects become more complicated, underwriters face ever-increasing challenges in determining a principal’s capabilities. A pre-bonding evaluation by our technical experts identifies risk and can help sureties from bonding principals who may only be exhibiting the subtlest signs of difficulty. You can request an evaluation of a principal or project before a bond is ever issued. As a full-service surety claims consultant, our services include the following:

• Credit relationship investigations
• Prior surety experience investigations
• Banking relationship investigations
• Management investigations
• Principal accounting and financial reviews
• Indemnitor accounting and financial reviews
• Bid evaluation and assistance
• Cost estimate reviews
• Budget reviews
• Cash-flow analysis
• Contractual commitment investigations

Because the ability to identify problems before they become financially threatening plays such a critical role in your success, investigations comprise a major thrust and strength of our pre-default services. When an obligee notifies the surety of project delays or when a subcontractor or supplier serves notice to the surety for non-payment, the principal may be in trouble. We can pinpoint these problems and expedite corrections before a default, saving you both time and money. As a full-service surety consultant, our pre-default services include the following:

• Background investigations
• Exposure evaluations and estimates
• Recovery identification
• Project status evaluations
• Specialized surety requirements
• Schedule to complete reviews and estimates
• Work quality and control evaluations
• Change order review and recommendations
• Contractor cost system evaluations
• Work methodology reviews and recommendations

YA distinguished itself decades ago for responding to problems quickly and decisively, demonstrating our ability to reduce surety losses. Often, it isn’t enough to determine what went wrong. You need a partner who helps make things right, compensating for lost time and money. The key to our successful track record rests in the depth of analysis and expert execution only YA can provide. Our post-default surety consulting services to you may include:

• Default and termination investigations
• Cost-to-complete reviews and estimates
• Bid procurement
• Project relet
• Principal or relet contractor monitoring
• Settlement negotiations
• Specialized surety requirements
• Principal affirmative claim and defensive claim analysis and preparation
• SBA audit coordination and support
• Errors and omissions reviews
• Accounting and financial reviews
• Financial and operations monitoring
• Project management monitoring
• Project completion

To ensure fairness and expedience for all parties, YA investigates and processes all claims with the precision and professionalism you can expect from an industry leader. Subcontractor Default Insurance (SDI) claims investigations require expertise and experience only gained through years of handling these complicated, specialty claims. YA has earned the trust of carriers and insured in the fair, accurate, and timely investigation of subcontractor default insurance claims. With a vigilant eye on detail, our professionals execute and document every step of the process, from FNOL (First Notice of Loss) and receipt of POC (Proof of Claim) to claim review and analysis of direct and direct costs. Of course, to provide a singular solution, we also support our clients with loss fund management, subrogation & recovery initiatives, litigation support, and expert testimony when required. When you have Subcontractor Default Insurance claims, rely on genuine claims experience. Rely on a track record of cost-effective performance. Rely on the experts at YA.

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Construction defect experts aren’t always known for their speed and punctuality. Or their ability to generate real-world repair cost estimates. Or their working knowledge of contemporary job sites, for that matter. That’s where we come in. Seeing what can and often does go wrong on construction sites for over thirty years gives YA’s Construction Defect Group – and you – the competitive edge. With a reputation for providing national support and accurate documentation on time and on budget, YA’s construction defect experts support attorneys, carriers, building owners, developers, and contractors with a more practical, streamlined, and credible approach. Our 4C Process^® methodically guides claims and cases to a swift yet definitive resolution. In addition to repair cost estimates and remediation services, we provide law firms with integrated, interdisciplinary litigation support, responding to you and your case needs with unparalleled speed and diligence.

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Construction claims consulting includes claims management, which helps you systematically address the claims that can disrupt construction project timelines, budgets, completion, construction integrity and overall profitability. When you need to proactively prepare and strategize for prevention and sharper, more efficient claims handling… and when you’re faced with construction claims of any volume, size or type, you need the confidence that comes from knowing you are working with the proven leader in construction claims management. Our demonstrated proficiency with claims investigations and claims management– a capability that includes construction delay claims, subcontractor default insurance investigations, subrogation & recovery, litigation, negotiation and risk mitigation support – includes many of the world’s most challenging projects. Providing claims management services internationally to a wide range of clients, in both public and private sectors, Guardian Group evaluates your risk at the start and develops strategies to minimize your liability. In the event of litigation, we provide extensive advisory and support services for attorneys that can often provide the winning edge in negotiations and/or in court.

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Anticipating disagreements and incorporating strategies to address them beforehand is one of the reasons why YA clients find us so uniquely valuable. When you invest upfront to mitigate claims risk, you put the power of other people’s hindsight (and otherwise preventable misfortunes) to work for you. Helping clients hedge their bets via our experience and expertise serves to underpin and embolden your success. In our experience, creating a system of project control procedures remains the time-tested, proactive way to avoiding costly claims. Our proactive construction claims services to you may include such elements as:

• Construct-ability reviews
• Periodic management audits
• Accurate schedule updates
• Project documentation procedure review and development
• Dispute resolution procedures
• Training

When a surety bond company incurs a loss from a surety claim, taking action immediately maximizes recovery. Our subrogation and recovery professionals have the knowledge and expertise to pursue subrogation and recovery on your behalf all over the world. We coordinate and complete all subrogation and recovery efforts while the claim remains active or after it is closed. Upon reviewing your case, we’ll develop an appropriate plan of action and timeline. In the vast majority of cases, our clients bear no expense unless we recover monies on their behalf. As national surety consultants, YA’s subrogation and recovery experts handle a broad spectrum of cases, from volume-oriented programs to the most complex matters. Services in the subrogation and recovery arena include:

• Asset investigations
• Collateralization of losses
• Collections
• Conversion and liquidation of assets
• Securitization of promissory notes
• Filing deeds of trust
• UCC filings

With such extensive experience in the surety claims, construction management and construction defect fields, there probably isn’t a single issue upon which YA can’t help you shed some light. In fact, if you’re experiencing a current problem or challenge and you don’t see it listed here, please phone us. We’ll be happy to let you know if it’s something we can help you with, or, if not, to point you in the right direction. As a leading surety consultant known for its work with project takeovers, delay claims and complex investigations, you may not be aware of some of the other services for which clients have come to depend on us:

• Claim & underwriting policy
• Procedure manual preparation
• Educational and training seminars
• Reinsurance audits and reviews
• Special investigation unit services
• Development and instruction in computerized claims programs
• Claim file reviews and audits
• Claims run-off
• Temporary and permanent staffing
• Reinsurance and SBA billing
• Specialized surety requirements