Surety Bond Professionals is a family-owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to help you get the Alaska title bond you need.
What Is It?
Alaska’s Department of Motor Vehicles has established a bonded title process that gives vehicle owners lacking a valid title a way to insure, register, or sell a vehicle. Purchasing an Alaska title bond (also called a lost title bond or certificate of title bond) is the prerequisite for obtaining a bonded title. The bond serves as your guarantee that:
- You are the sole owner of the vehicle
- You obtained the vehicle through legal means (e.g., through a purchase or as a gift)
- You will compensate any party who proves a legitimate ownership interest in the vehicle within the next three years
Who Needs It?
The following are the most common reasons for needing to buy an Alaska title bond:
- The vehicle was purchased from a private seller who did not turn over a title
- The title was turned over by the seller but was lost or stolen before the vehicle could be registered by its new owner
- There is a title but it is defective—altered, illegible, damaged, etc.
You do not need a title bond if the title was lost, stolen, or damaged after the vehicle was registered in your name—instead, you need to obtain a replacement title. In addition, you cannot get a bonded title for an abandoned vehicle.
Speak with a Surety Bond Professionals agent to discuss your bonding needs.
How Does It Work?
The required title bond amount is one and a half times the appraised value of the vehicle. In addition to having the vehicle’s retail value appraised and documented, you’ll need to get the vehicle inspected by a representative of the DMV. You’ll also need to provide some evidence of your ownership of the vehicle, such as a receipt or bill of sales. Once you have the title bond, you can get a bonded title for the vehicle.
The title bond will remain in place for three years, after which it can be converted into a regular vehicle title. During that period, a person who can prove a valid ownership interest in the vehicle for which you have obtained a bonded title can file a claim against your title bond for compensation. In certain cases, you might even have to relinquish the vehicle.
If you do incur a claim, the surety bond company that issued the bond will try to negotiate a mutually agreeable settlement—but that’s not always successful. Lacking a negotiated settlement, the surety bond company will most likely go ahead and pay it, though that responsibility legally belongs to you. The surety company is in effect extending you short-term credit, but you are obligated to repay the full amount.
What Does It Cost?
What you’ll pay for an Alaska title bond depends on the required bond amount, which is one and a half times the vehicle’s appraised value.
Different surety bond companies employ different methods for determining the cost you will pay for a lost title bond. It’s common for them to charge a fixed premium price up to a certain maximum bond amount and go through an underwriting process for higher bond amounts.
Get a Quote
Our team of professionals will help you get the Alaska title bond you need so that you can get a bonded title for your vehicle.