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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OLDWICK - JUNE 04, 2020 03:12 PM (EDT)
In this episode of AMBestTV, David Blades, associate director, and Max Gilberg, associate analyst, both of AM Best, said the bail bond market grew 10.4% in the past five years, despite legislative changes intended to dampen its relevancy. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=bailbonds520 to view the entire program.
Blades highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted bail bond insurers.
“Overcrowding in the U.S. prison system has long been a problem, and this overcrowding has made prisons ripe for an epidemic,” said Blades. “Even if a person was in prison for a short period of time, such as overnight, that person could be exposure to the virus and upon release, spread it to the outside population. Therefore, what COVID-19 has done is accelerate the push for criminal and bail bond reforms. How these reforms will impact the bail bond insurance industry in the future remains to be seen.”
The prevailing view is that various legislation being pushed could mean the end of cash bail or bail bond insurance. Gilberg discussed this dynamic.
“There have been a number of legislative changes in numerous states over the last few years; however, the growth in direct written premium over the last five years shows that the bail bond environment is quite healthy, despite some of the substantial changes in the law.”
To access the related market segment report, titled, “Bail Bond Market Faces Legislative Headwinds,” please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=296978 .
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AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.