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- Jul 17, 2019
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Display name:
The Little Arrow That Could
TLDR: How common is it for workmen/handymen/etc to claim they have insurance when they don't? How often do you check?
Explanation:
Recently I had a guy come knocking asking if he could take down one of my big oak trees (70+ feet). It's clearly dying and should be felled soon.
He gave me an excellent price and timeline so we signed a contract. Given that it's an enormous tree I wanted to do a little bit of homework just to verify the guy knows what he's doing. I found he's got a properly registered Illinois business in his name, a BBB rating, a website with reviews, and he's got a small fleet of work trucks for the handful of people in his outfit. This put me at ease and I was content that it was a professional op, though I was still concerned that they don't use cranes or bucket trucks to help take down big trees (especially when they're conveniently located next to a driveway/road). They only do it by climbing. I'm no tree expert but that seemed risky.
It is an inherently risky job to be a worker dropping a 70'+ tree weighing thousands of pounds, and the job also has some property risk b/c it could hit cars on a public road, or damage some of my own landscaping/driveway. Thus I wanted to verify his insurance. Each time I pushed to see it he responded with "I've got a lot of experience, it'll be fine, don't worry", then reassured me he would present the right docs on tree takedown day. At the beginning of the month when he was set to chop the tree, he showed up to do the work and failed to present insurance docs. He then was annoyed and flatly stated "I don't have insurance, it's too expensive". Much to his annoyance I sent him and his team home with a cancelled contract; I can't have an uninsured person doing risky work like that.
Since that event I've contacted two other people scheduled to work on my house: a guy who was scheduled to do some repairs on my deck, and a guy who is supposed to install chimney caps. They both have marketing docs and contracts that say "Licensed, Bonded and Fully Insured" (or similar), but when pushed to present docs both of them have flatly admitted they don't have insurance. Only my long-time landscaper was able to demonstrate he has current insurance, which I found a little ironic (most reliable guy ever, and charges nothing).
So far I'm 3 for 4 on finding workmen who aren't insured despite claims they are.
I'm wondering: how often do you check to see if people actually have insurance? Is this a prevalent deceptive practice? Based on my handful of datapoints so far: it is.
Explanation:
Recently I had a guy come knocking asking if he could take down one of my big oak trees (70+ feet). It's clearly dying and should be felled soon.
He gave me an excellent price and timeline so we signed a contract. Given that it's an enormous tree I wanted to do a little bit of homework just to verify the guy knows what he's doing. I found he's got a properly registered Illinois business in his name, a BBB rating, a website with reviews, and he's got a small fleet of work trucks for the handful of people in his outfit. This put me at ease and I was content that it was a professional op, though I was still concerned that they don't use cranes or bucket trucks to help take down big trees (especially when they're conveniently located next to a driveway/road). They only do it by climbing. I'm no tree expert but that seemed risky.
It is an inherently risky job to be a worker dropping a 70'+ tree weighing thousands of pounds, and the job also has some property risk b/c it could hit cars on a public road, or damage some of my own landscaping/driveway. Thus I wanted to verify his insurance. Each time I pushed to see it he responded with "I've got a lot of experience, it'll be fine, don't worry", then reassured me he would present the right docs on tree takedown day. At the beginning of the month when he was set to chop the tree, he showed up to do the work and failed to present insurance docs. He then was annoyed and flatly stated "I don't have insurance, it's too expensive". Much to his annoyance I sent him and his team home with a cancelled contract; I can't have an uninsured person doing risky work like that.
Since that event I've contacted two other people scheduled to work on my house: a guy who was scheduled to do some repairs on my deck, and a guy who is supposed to install chimney caps. They both have marketing docs and contracts that say "Licensed, Bonded and Fully Insured" (or similar), but when pushed to present docs both of them have flatly admitted they don't have insurance. Only my long-time landscaper was able to demonstrate he has current insurance, which I found a little ironic (most reliable guy ever, and charges nothing).
So far I'm 3 for 4 on finding workmen who aren't insured despite claims they are.
I'm wondering: how often do you check to see if people actually have insurance? Is this a prevalent deceptive practice? Based on my handful of datapoints so far: it is.