Employee dishonesty & commercial-crime coverage
Bond coverage that protects the employer if an employee steals, embezzles or defrauds the business — the "third-party fidelity" line every operator with cash-handling employees should carry.
What an employee-dishonesty bond covers
An employee-dishonesty bond — also written as a commercial-crime policy in modern insurance markets — is a fidelity coverage that pays the employer when a covered employee commits theft, embezzlement, forgery or other fraudulent taking of money, securities or other property from the business. Coverage responds regardless of whether the employee is caught, prosecuted or has assets to recover.
Coverage is written as a per-loss limit (typical amounts range from $10,000 for a small operation to $1,000,000+ for finance and property-management firms). The bond protects the business itself, and named "third-party" endorsements can also extend to loss caused by employees on a client's premises — which is why cleaning services, home-service crews and property managers routinely carry the coverage as part of their contract package.
Employee dishonesty vs. a general business policy
Most business owners assume their general-liability or business-owner's policy covers employee theft. It doesn't. Standard property and liability forms explicitly exclude loss caused by an insured's own employees. Employee-dishonesty coverage is the affirmative line written to close that exclusion — and lenders, franchise agreements and larger client contracts increasingly require a specific dollar limit of it before signing.
The line is written either as a stand-alone bond (the traditional fidelity form) or as a commercial-crime endorsement on a package. On dollar-cost basis they are functionally equivalent; we quote whichever form the requesting party (lender, franchisor, client contract) will accept.
Employee dishonesty / fidelity programs we write
Commercial crime / employee theft
The core coverage: money, securities and property taken by an employee. Written per-loss with limits from $10k to $1M+.
Business service bonds
Third-party fidelity written specifically for service businesses whose employees work in a client's home or office — pest control, HVAC repair, IT service, appliance install, mobile car wash.
Janitorial / home-service fidelity
Named-employee or blanket-coverage fidelity for cleaning services, home-care aides, personal-caregiver agencies and other businesses whose crews are alone in client spaces.
Franchise / lender-required fidelity
Written to the exact limit and named-insured wording called out in the franchise agreement or loan covenant. Same-day certificate issue on clean files.
Property management fidelity
Blanket-employee fidelity plus tenant-security-deposit surety for property-management firms handling rent, deposits and reserves.
Forgery / alteration coverage
Endorsement adding forgery of company cheques, cashier's cheques and outgoing negotiable instruments. Often bundled with the commercial-crime bond.
How much coverage a business should actually carry
The rough guide underwriters use: coverage should approximate the largest amount that a single employee could reasonably steal in the time between routine audits. For a small retail operation, that might be one week of cash receipts. For an accounting firm, it is closer to a full quarter's client trust balance. For property-management firms it usually tracks the largest security-deposit account under one signature.
Franchise agreements and larger client contracts typically hard-code a limit — $25,000 to $250,000 is the common range — and we write to that number exactly, with any endorsement wording the requesting party asks for.
Frequently asked questions
Good to KnowHistorically a fidelity bond and a commercial-crime policy were separate forms; modern carriers issue essentially the same coverage under either label. If a specific obligee (franchise, lender, client) names the form they want, we file that exact form.
No. An ERISA bond covers loss to a benefit plan caused by a plan fiduciary; an employee-dishonesty bond covers loss to the business caused by any covered employee. Companies that sponsor a plan typically carry both.
Priced as an annual premium on the per-loss limit. Small business-service bonds are often under $200/year; six-figure commercial-crime limits price on employee count and financial-control quality.
Tell us the limit — we'll quote the bond
Send the limit required, the number of employees to be covered, and any specific form or wording named by a franchisor / lender / client contract.
- 201-661-2381 — Anthony Spina, direct line
- aspina@acsbonding.com
- 1200 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 302A, Mahwah, NJ 07430
Request received!
Anthony will be in touch shortly. For an urgent filing, call 201-661-2381.