Every year the AIA Surety Team conducts a “State of Bail” survey amongst agents. Our goal? To try and better understand how agents are feeling about the industry and its future. This year we had an incredible response from agents. As of this morning, we have received survey responses from close to 100 agents representing over 22 states. Once again, thanks again to everyone that took the time to respond. The results of the survey are as follows:
When asked about the overall health of the bail profession, agents’ responses were for the most part, neutral. Very few felt the industry was super healthy, and very few felt the industry was super unhealthy. The majority of respondents rated the health of the industry at a 3 out of 5. In other words, right in the middle. When asked whether they felt this year would be better than next year, the results were evenly split with 51% saying No and 49% saying Yes.
Just as in previous surveys, we also asked agents what the most important thing was they would like to see from their surety this year. The results were extremely telling. With a whopping 60% of the vote “More assistance fighting bail reform” was easily the top answer. This makes perfect sense to our team as we have seen several states that have been impacted by bail reform policies over the past few years. Additionally, with AIA Surety’s announcement that we were exiting the American Bail Coalition last year, we understand that there is some uncertainty with agents and state associations. That being said, we can confidently tell you that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to AIA Surety and our efforts to protect, defend and promote the bail profession around the country. We have and always will be at the tip of the spear fighting for all bail agents and the constitutional right to bail…whether we are a member of ABC or not. You have our promise that we will be working hand in hand with every state association and with every agent to ensure that we all have a bright and prosperous future.
Other top answers for the question, what you would like to see from your surety, were “More help growing my business” with 9% and Better Technology offerings with 6%. These are both things that are foundational to AIA Surety. We are committed to providing agents with the technology and the tools they need to not only grow their business, but even more importantly expand their presence in the marketplace.
Our last question was around how happy agents were with their current surety. And most of the agents responded that they were satisfied with the assistance that they received from their surety. Only a small group of respondents, about 10%, were unhappy with their surety and potentially looking to switch this coming year.
In summary, it looks like people’s attitudes towards this coming year are pretty much neutral and we are just going to have to see where things fall out. Additionally, most agents appear happy with their current surety but would like to see more effort being put towards protecting and defending the bail profession from bail reform.
We hope that you found these survey results both interesting and informative. If you have any additional questions about the results or would like to learn more about AIA Surety, do not hesitate to contact our team at 800.935.2245.
