Idaho Motor Vehicle Dealer Bond

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Who Is Required To Purchase an Idaho Auto Dealer Bond?

On the application you're either a retail or wholesale dealer with one or more of the following sales types:

• New automobile and truck
• Recreational vehicle
• New ATV, UTV, motorcycle and snowmobile
• New trailers
• New vessel
• Used vehicle including trails, ATV, UTV, motorcycle, snowmobile, and vessels
• Used only ATV, UTV, motorcycles and snowmobiles

All dealers are required to purchase this performance bond (or auto dealer bond). Here are the different amounts of the bond based on the license type and sales type:

 

 

Why is an Idaho Vehicle Dealer Bond Required?

Idaho, like most states, has a number of licensing requirements that must be fulfilled to legally sell vehicles in the state.

Some of these licensing requirements are:

• Meeting minimum education hours for used and wholesale dealers
• Getting your dealership name approved
• Paying the required fee into the Idaho Consumer Asset Recovery Fund
• Making sure your dealership location passes inspection
• Plus many other requirements

One of these licensing requirements is purchasing the surety bond for your license type. (Remember, they call this a performance bond in the official application and paperwork.)

This bond is purchased to provide protection to your customers and the Idaho Tax Commission.

What Does an Illinois Auto Dealer Bond Protect Against?

Despite all the fees and licensing requirements, every year there will be a handful of dealers who commit fraud against their customers or the state to make more money.

These fraudulent acts can include:

• Improperly transferring on title on sold vehicles
• Selling vehicles with no title or worse, fake titles
• Lying about vehicle condition, accident history, or milage
• Stealing from customer deposits
• Switching out vehicles when delivering on sold vehicles
• Failing to pay the correct amount of sales tax on sold vehicles

If a dealer is found guilty of committing any of these or similar actions, the harmed party - the customer or Idaho Tax Commission - can make a claim against the bond for financial compensation.

The bond amount is the maximum amount of coverage available for valid claims.

How Much Does an Idaho Auto Dealer Bond Cost?

All Idaho vehicle dealer bonds are credit driven bonds. This means the price you pay will be based on a custom rate quoted from a surety.

A surety is an insurance company that underwrites these auto dealer bonds. Each surety will perform their own independent analysis of an applicant, primarily using these three primary factors:

• The personal credit of the owner or owners if there are multiple owners
• Dealership experience and industry experience
• Any prior bond claims if any owner has been licensed in the past

Based on these factors, the surety will quote their rate and this rate multiplied by your bond amount is the price you'll pay.

Because each surety conducts their own assessment, the rates can and typically are vastly different.

This is what we do at Surety Bonds Direct. It's our job to price shop for you can find the lowest possible rate and price for your bond.

Depending on your bond amount, finding the lowest rate can easily save you hundreds of dollars. This is money you can use to pay other fees associated with getting your license or renewing your license.

Here's a table showing you examples of pricing for the Illinois $20,000 retail auto dealer bond. Notice the pricing changes based on one to two percentage points in the rate.

The price you pay is one payment for the entire bond term. In Idaho the bond term is 12 months.

Getting a one percent savings is enough to pay the entire application fee. So it's worth having us price shop for you.

We'll find you the lowest price at no cost to you, plus when you receive pricing you're under no obligation or pressure to purchase with us.

Click here and start the online quote process. It takes 90 seconds to submit your request.

If you prefer to speak with a bond specialist, you can call 1-800-608-9950.

What Happens After You Purchase Your Auto Dealer Bond?

Once you purchase your bond, our issuance team will begin immediately preparing your bond with the correct:

• Bond form (there's a different bond form based on your sales type)
• Signatures
• Legal seals
• And the required power of attorney

The Idaho Department of Transportation will accept a copy of the bond. This allows us to email you a copy of your bond to you making the process faster.

Renewing Your Auto Dealer Bond

Your auto dealer bond (performance bond) will expire 12 months from the effective date.

The effective date is the activation date you choose when you purchase your bond. Remember the price you pay is one payment for the entire bond term.

As your bond expiration date approaches, your bond specialist will begin reaching out to you 30 to 45 days in advance to remind you about the expiration date and to help get your bond renewed.

Your bond specialist will have low pricing already available making the renewal process seamless.

Once you pay the renewal premium, your bond remains active. There's no additional paperwork needed and you don't have to resubmit your bond with the Department of Transportation.

 

 

Vehicle Dealer Bonds And Getting Your Idaho Business License/Registration

Getting your Idaho dealer retail or wholesale license is very straightforward process with a few steps that are unique to Idaho.

At a high level the steps are:

1. Complete the official application
2. If you're a used or wholesale only dealer there are education requirements to obtain
3. Get your dealership name approved
4. Purchase the correct auto dealer bond
5. Purchase the required minimum amounts of liability and property insurance
6. Prepare your dealership location and pass the dealership location requirements
7. Make your annual payment in to the ICAR fund
8. Prove your dealership has adequate zoning
9. Pay all the applicable fees for your dealership and business setup