There is a lot of fraud going on these days in the world of contractor and freelancer business. Every day someone else gets cheated, sometimes for a lot of money. Is it any wonder that businesses are nervous about hiring contractors to plan and book their incentive travel?
Perhaps an insurance instrument is the way to go for many incentive travel planners today. Especially if you are just starting out, it will be difficult to get people to trust you. Here are ways that insurance instruments can help you.
Bid Bonds
A bid bond is simply a document that holds you, the contractor, to an obligation to perform the work if you are the successful bidder. This is a popular instrument in the construction world, but it might also help the planner secure the confidence of a business owner who is a little nervous about hiring someone for big ticket travel.
Performance Bonds
This may be the most useful of the instruments for the meeting planner. It simply guarantees that the planner will carry out the contract terms and requirements as written. A dishonest business person is very reluctant to offer an owner this instrument.
Payment Bonds
With a payment bond, you are promising to pay the people who provide the travel service, namely the hotel, caterers, tour companies, entertainment, etc. This means that the money the client gives you will go where it is supposed to go and you will not keep it for yourself.
Are you a little nervous now? You should be. There are lots of scam artists and frauds out there. If you are also worried, find out how you can use these bonds yourself for people who contract services to you. In the end you may not be able to use any of them for any purpose, depending on the cost and security provided, but it would not hurt to research them to see if they can help you boost your client’s confidence as well as your own.
