4.3 Powers of Attorney: Execution, Limits & Accounting

4.3 Powers of Attorney — F.S. 648.43

A power of attorney (POA) evidences authority to execute a bail bond for the surety. Use F.S. 648.43 for the approved form, professional-agent delegation, and transfer-bond notation; coordinate it with appointments and the prohibitions in F.S. 648.44.

Insurer form approval

Every insurer writing Florida bail bonds through bail bond agents must submit a sample POA to OIR for prior approval. That approved sample is the only POA form the insurer may issue to Florida bail bond agents.

This is a form-approval rule. Do not convert it into an unsupported statutory list of every internal serial-log field.

Professional-agent delegation

A professional bail bond agent who authorizes a licensed professional agent directly employed and appointed by that agent to sign the principal agent's name to bonds must file a copy of the POA with:

• the sheriff;
• the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the principal professional agent resides; and
• DFS.

That power remains effective until the named officials receive written notice revoking it.

Transfer bonds

An agent who executes or countersigns a transfer bond must write on the bond the name and address of the referring bail bond agent. A vague statement that “notice is required” is incomplete.

Related F.S. 648.44 prohibitions

• Do not sign or countersign a bond in blank.
• Do not give a POA or authorize another person to countersign the agent's name unless that person is a licensed and appointed bail bond agent directly employed by the granting agent.
• Do not write more than one POA per charge on a bond, except in the statutory cosurety situation.
• Do not execute a bond on the agent's own behalf.
• Do not execute a bond when barred by the unpaid-judgment rule.

Supplies and unlicensed persons — F.S. 648.441

An insurer, MGA, or agent may not furnish bail-bond supplies to an unlicensed person except within the statute's supervised-employee allowance. Powers of attorney, bond forms, and collateral receipts are expressly excluded from that allowance.

If an insurer furnishes supplies to an unlicensed person and accepts business from that person, subsection (2) establishes the insurer's civil liability to insureds and indemnitors as if the person had been appointed.

Recordkeeping

F.S. 648.36 requires bond records sufficient for DFS to obtain all necessary information about bonds executed or countersigned and retains them for at least 3 years after surety liability terminates. Rule 69B-221.145 is about credit cards and cash advances, not a master POA log.

An insurer or MGA may impose additional inventory controls by contract. Distinguish those private controls from requirements stated in Chapter 648.

Invalid or missing authority

An expired, revoked, altered, or otherwise unauthorized POA can create a bond-acceptance problem, an insurer-agent contract issue, or discipline depending on the facts. Do not declare automatic personal liability or a fixed sanction without the controlling instrument and legal provision.

F.S. 648.36 itself does not create an immediate lost-or-stolen-POA bulletin duty. Preserve accurate records and follow applicable insurer procedures and governing rules, but cite the actual source of any reporting obligation.

Exam checklist

1. Is the insurer's POA sample OIR-approved?
2. Are the agent and agency currently appointed for the insurer?
3. Is the person signing actually authorized?
4. Is only one POA used per charge unless the cosurety exception applies?
5. Is the bond free of blank signatures?
6. Does a transfer bond state the referring agent's name and address?
7. Are the execution records retained under F.S. 648.36?