Contractors working under the table - downsides?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
New homeowner here and I frequently get exterior maintenance contractors knocking on my door because they were hired by the neighbor to do something and they're asking if I would be interested in having the same work done (ex. landscaping, gutter cleaning). They usually want payment in cash or zelle, but they work for a big contractor company with official company vehicles and all that.
What are the downsides to this? I'm guessing if something goes wrong I wouldn't have any recourse, right? |
Anonymous
| No licensure. No insurance. No workman's comp. No contract. What could ever go wrong. |
Anonymous
What about for a basic job like gutter cleaning? |
Anonymous
| Scam. If they were good they would not need to go door to door. |
Anonymous
| Spoiler they actually did not do any work for a neighbor. They are just looking for business wherever they can find it. |
Anonymous
Surely nobody has ever fallen from a ladder before. |
Anonymous
+100 |
Anonymous
This. |
Anonymous
Well in this most recent case I observed them doing work for the neighbor, they were on their roof. |
Anonymous
|
Much of the time those are just a scam. However, I would never let some uninsured do work on my home. There are just too many things that could go wrong that to way too expensive.
Sit back while I tell you a tale... In my first place (a side by side 2-floor condo), I was planning a minor, cosmetic bathroom upgrade. I don't know how, but the contractor broke a pipe. Since it was a condo, no one was sure how to turn the water off. Water was everywhere, first floor, second floor and went through the walls to my neighbor's place too. Thousands of dollars of water remediation, replaced flooring, walls, etc., I was damn glad I made sure I had a licensed and insured person do the work AND had a contract. My neighbor and the contractor's insurance dealt with their damage and I paid absolutely nothing for brand new hardwood floors since the old ones were destroyed. Helped a lot with resale. It was the best worst thing that ever happened to me. |
Anonymous
What if they fall off a ladder? |
Anonymous
Sorry I'm dumb, so who is liable if something like this happens? I know that home owners liability insurance covers things like someone hurting themselves on your property, how does them having their own insurance change things? I thought that contractor insurance covers things like damage they cause to your house. Does contractor insurance also cover injuries they sustain working at your property? |
Anonymous
Workman's comp insurance covers this. |
Anonymous
| They can say you never paid them and then ask the police to certify a U visa for them and have the police investigate you and you pay a lawyer 25x what you paid them. Ask me how I know. |
Anonymous
| Travelers |