Is Your Painting Contractor really INSURED?

They said they had Insurance.

Is your painting contractor insured while working on your home and property?

Imagine one of these scenarios:

• The painter spills paint all over your brand new rug.
• The painter looses control of a ladder and it falls onto your car.
• The painter forgets to turn off a halogen spot light and causes a fire in the home.
• The painter uses your hose to wash a brush and forgets to turn the water off and drains your well.
• The painter falls off the ladder and gets hurt.

These incidents above have all happened but who is responsible or better yet who is going to pay for the damages?       We all agree that it is the contractors problem, but what if they are not insured?

Scenario #1:

The painter arrives for the estimate and when asked if they have insurance they say “yes”.  They even have it printed on their trucks.  The truck usually states ” interior/exterior painting  Fully Insured–free estimates”

What does this mean: Fully Insured?  Are they “Fully Insured” to cover you and whatever loss you may incur?  Or are they “Fully Insured” to cover their own self”?

Do they actually have insurance?  They might have health insurance, truck insurance, life insurance, BUT do they have liability and workman compensation insurance?

Scenario #2:

The painter arrives for the estimate and when asked if they have insurance they say “yes”.  They then offer to have the insurance company mail or email directly a company of an insurance binder to you prior to any work being started.  Your name will be printed directly on the insurance binder and mailed directly to you.

Why you may ask?  This proves the contractor is insured at the time of the project and in anytime in the next six months the contractor fails to pay or cancels the insurance policy, you will be notified by the insurance company immediately.

We also have a copy of a binder on our website so our customers know what to expect when looking for an insured painting contractor.         Ramsden Painting Insurance .

BE AWARE: If the contractor hands you or shows you a copy of an insurance policy this could be a RED FLAG. The contractor may have made his first payment and then cancels or had their policy canceled and just copying the old policy over and over and displaying this as proof of insurance.  The policy could be worthless and only worth the piece of paper it has been printed on.

Request a copy directly from the insurance company.  If there is a problem doing this, it will only be the first red flag or what is to come.

A reputable contractor can provide and is standard to provide all necessary documentation to a prospective client.  Ramsden Painting can answer any questions you may  have questions regarding this or other painting needs, please fee free in contacting me at Ron@RamsdenPainting.com or visit our website RamsdenPainting.com