The indemnity agreement is a simple contract establishing the obligations of third parties to indemnify and hold the Bond Company (surety) harmless. When a cosigner signs an indemnity agreement, whether or not collateral is given, third parties become the cosigner or indemnitor and are the true customer of the bondsman and surety. The indemnitors who want to bond an inmate agree to assist him, are likely to be the very people the defendant least wishes to disappoint or harm. Individuals with significant long term relationships to the defendant give him an otherwise non-existent incentive to appear and meet his obligations. In the event the defendant fails to appear, the same disappointed indemnitors, now facing imminent financial loss, also tend to become the surety’s best and most reliable source of information leading to his apprehension.