On a $25,000 bond, the premium is $2,500 at the standard 10% filed rate, or $2,000 at a reduced 8% rate for clients who qualify. Collateral is security, and California limits which expenses an agent may add. The premium is generally not refundable, with two surrender exceptions.
The $2,500 premium on a $25,000 bond
At the standard 10% filed rate, bail of $25,000 carries a premium of $2,500. That bond premium is the core of your bail bond cost. The reduced rate works out to $2,000 if you qualify. Our premium guide breaks it down.
The Rate Regulation Branch at the California Department of Insurance decides whether the bail premium rates charged to consumers are fair, and its bail bonds page links to a lookup of rate filings.
A long case on a $25,000 bond brings no renewal premium. PC 1276.1 allows one premium for an agreement that lasts until the court exonerates the bail, which frees the surety from the bond.
Where collateral fits
Collateral is property or money that backs the bond once your agreement calls for it. California's rules list it as its own purpose, apart from the premium (10 CCR 2081(b)), so it is not part of the $2,500 premium. The agent must give you a description of any collateral, a receipt, a statement of conditions and a copy of any written agreement about it (10 CCR 2083(m)).
If an agent passes collateral to another licensed agent or a surety insurer, the new holder takes on the same fiduciary duty, a legal duty to handle it with care for its owner, and the collateral cannot leave California (10 CCR 2088.1). An agent may not require a cosigner or collateral owner to waive any right, such as the right to take a dispute to civil court (10 CCR 2087). Our cosigner and collateral guide explains what each role owes.
Expenses that can sit on top
After the premium, 10 CCR 2081(c) lets an agent recover its own expenses in the individual bail transaction, if the costs were real, necessary and reasonable. Named examples include guard fees after the first 12 hours following release, long-distance phone charges, and a reasonable posting fee from an agent who works outside the county where the bail was arranged. An agent allowed to charge for travel is capped at the federal tax travel allowance or the state mileage rate.
If new charges arise after release, the agent must immediately deliver another numbered statement that covers them (10 CCR 2083.1). The agent must also hand you a copy of every document you sign, when you sign it (10 CCR 2099). Finally, any total above $2,500 should trace to a listed expense.
What you generally cannot get back
Generally, you cannot get the premium back, even when prosecutors drop charges, says the Department of Insurance. Two rules carve out exceptions, and both involve a surrender, meaning the agent's return of the defendant to jail.
First, 10 CCR 2090 covers a surrender made ahead of a required court date. The agent must hand back all of the premium. It may retain the out-of-pocket costs that subsections (c) and (d) of 10 CCR 2081 allow only if it proves that judicial action, concealed information or another reasonable cause caused a substantial increase in its risk. The same regulation says a surrender at a cosigner's request is never, by itself, reasonable cause, so the premium and expenses come back unless the agent proves an actual and substantial increase in risk.
Second, Penal Code 1300(b) gives a judge discretion over a surrender of a defendant who has missed no court date and violated no order. If the judge finds the surrender lacked good cause, the judge can order a full or partial refund of the premium. Neither rule reaches a defendant who sees the case through, so on a $25,000 bond treat the $2,500 as spent.