Bail Bond

We decide to go base jumping off of the tallest building in the state of Kansas. Since Kansas is so flat, we are seen by every human being in the state, and immediately arrested upon landing. We are allowed to post bail to get out of jail, and promise to show up for our hearing as scheduled by the court. The bond amount is set by the court. The more severe the infraction, the higher the bail. If we landed on Dorothy (we are in Kansas) and she was injured badly, or killed, the bail amount would increase dramatically. If the bail was more than we had in our backpacks and/or bank account, we would go to a bail bond company. The bail bond company would put up the bail amount. We would pay a portion of that to purchase the bail bond.

Basically, a bail bond is a surety or "certainty" bond. The portion we pay is called the premium. The portion the bond company furnishes is similar to an insurance policy paid for by the premium. Oddly, our "premium" is sort of like the deductible in an insurance claim. We pay it, no matter what. As in life insurance, we don't pay the whole death benefit as a premium. We pay a small premium, which buys a leveraged amount of coverage. If we fail to show up (go on the lam), we forfeit the premium, and bounty hunters can be used to bring the fugitive back to justice. Or so it goes in the movies and reality TV.