Frequently Asked Questions

Feared Question #1

“Tell me about your Insurance.”

There are two types of insurance that are critical for contractors to possess. One is Comprehensive Business Liability, the type of insurance that protects your property from damage by the contractor. The second type of insurance is workmen’s compensation, which protects the workers and you (from liability), while they are working on your property. As a consumer, you should never consider working with a contractor that does not have these insurances in place. Unfortunately, you will find many, many contractors working without the workmen’s compensation insurance, because it is costly (see question #3). Furthermore, at least a million dollar limit in liability coverage is probably the minimum a contractor should be carrying. If you're not sure about the validity of a contractor’s insurance, call the insurance carrier and confirm it is an active, in-force policy.

The Smoke and Mirror Tricks

Some contractors will show a customer a copy of their auto or health insurance, and try to pass that off as being “insured”. Others have been caught changing the dates of a policy, taking an old expired policy and making it look current by whiting-out the old dates and typing in the new dates. Contractor policies are for one-year terms. Other contractors will just tell a potential customer they are insured, hoping the customer never pursues it any further. Be especially careful of contractors without workmen’s compensation. It is expensive, and many contractors will attempt to trick customers into thinking they have it or they dont need it for some reason. Don’t be fooled.

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