Who sets the cost of a bail bond transaction?
Actually, this answer is partly right. There are actually two answers to this question. Our bail bonds office gets this question all the time.
1. The judge sets the cost of bail. i.e. you get arrested for domestic violence, normally the judge makes this a bail amount of $25K. But, if the person you assaulted has any visual marks, the judge will most likely make the bail $50K. Also, if this is your 2nd time, the cost will be higher as well.
2. Cost of getting bailed out by using a bail bondsman. This is where the cost of bail is regulated by the California Department of Insurance. The cost of bail is called the premium. It is non refundable and you don’t get it back. You pay this to the bail bonds company so that they will put up a bond that is worth the cost of your bail, i.e. $50K. The cost of the premium is 10% of the total bail, so this would be $5K.
But! It is only up to the bail bonds agent as to what they will charge. Most legitimate and worthy bail bonds agents will charge the 10%. There are immoral agents out there that undercut the market and charge much less, but this is considered illegal and if they get caught, the insurance companies that are backing them will revoke their licenses.
There is one loophole that allows the bail bonds agents to charge 8%. But that is only if the bail they are working with is VERY good. By very good, this means that the defendant has no flight risk, lots of collateral (owns home with equity), has a family in town, etc….
