When you apply for a bond the surety will evaluate the following things

Experience:

Some surety companies won’t write your surety bond if you don’t have experience or if you are a new  business. If this is your case then you may have to be placed in a  non-standard surety bond program.

Credit:

For a standard rate the surety company is looking fro a score above 675. If you have a low score or bruised credit them you may have to apply for a non-standard surety program

Assets:

Even if you have good credit and experience, you still must have the assets to support a claim. If you have a 700 credit score, but you have $0 in the bank you may have to be placed in a non-standard surety program.

Each scenario is different and there are exceptions to the rules. I have seen clients that have excellent credit and no assets and still qualify for normal rates.  I have also seen clients that have low credit scores and plenty of assets qualify for normal rates.  So don’t get discouraged there are markets that can help you in almost all situations.