How do Bail Bondsmen Make Money?

The bail bond process can seem complicated and intimidating, but it is much simpler than you would think. In short, a person gets arrested, goes to jail, and then they may be given the opportunity to be released if they pay money. Whatever amount of money is decided upon is called their “bail amount.” If the defendant pays the bail amount and gets released, they will get their bail money back as long as they show up to court when they are supposed to.  

So… how do bail bondsmen make money?  

If the defendant does not have enough money to pay the bail amount in full, they will go to a bail bondsman for help. How it typically works is the bail bondsman will provide most of the money, but the defendant will still have to pay a certain percentage of it. For example, the defendant may pay 10 percent of the first $3,000, eight percent of the next $7,000, and six percent of the rest. In this case, if a bail amount were $16,000, the defendant would have to pay $1,220, and the bail bondsman would pay the rest.  

So, at this point, the bail bondsman is out $14,780. Fast forward in time, when the defendant shows up to court, and the bail money is returned, all of the money goes to the bail bondsman. The small amount of money that the defendant put up does not get returned to them. The full $16,000 goes to the bail bondsman. $16,000 – $14,780 = $1,220. Therefore, the bail bondsman will have made over a thousand dollars of profit from this case.  

The one big risk that bail bondsmen take is putting up thousands and thousands of dollars, despite knowing there is a chance the defendant will attempt to skip court, resulting in no return of bail money. In that case, the bail bondsman would be out a lot of money. To strongly discourage defendants from skipping their court date, bail bondsmen often do things like get an Indemnitor to sign the bond and agree to cover any losses that occur. In addition, the bail bondsman will likely require defendants to fork out collateral along with their percentage of the bail money.  

As risky as it can be to put up bail money for a defendant, if a bail bonds agent is smart and takes the necessary precautions, they will have great success, as well as the satisfaction of helping defendants when they need it the most!  

When you or your loved one winds up in jail, your first call should be to Alabama Bail Bonds. We understand how stressful it can be trying to navigate the bail bonds process. Count on a licensed bail bondsman to make the process as easy as possible for you. 

Alabama Bail Bonds of Tuscaloosa County 
Tuscaloosa, AL 
(205) 339-7109 
https://www.alabailbonds.com