Should Contractors Have Their Own Insurance When Working on My House?
Yes. Without their own insurance, an injury on your property could fall onto your homeowners liability coverage instead of theirs.
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A contractor without insurance shifts the risk onto you. If they're hurt on the job, their medical bills could become a claim against your liability coverage, since you're the property owner. If their work damages something or they damage a neighbor's property, that could land on you too. Ask for a certificate of insurance showing general liability and, if they have employees, workers' compensation, before work starts. Your insurer may also ask about ongoing projects at renewal, since uninsured contractors raise the chance of a claim.
A single injury claim from an uninsured contractor's crew can run well past what a standard liability limit covers, especially with lost wages and long-term medical costs involved. If that happens, the gap comes out of pocket. Checking your current liability limit against that kind of exposure, and seeing whether an umbrella policy closes it, is worth a few minutes before the work starts.
What if the contractor says they're insured but can't show proof right away?
Ask for the certificate before the work starts, not after. A certificate of insurance is a one-page document the contractor's insurer issues, and it names the policy limits, the coverage dates, and the types of coverage in force. A contractor who is actually insured can usually get one from their agent within a day. One who keeps putting it off, or sends a certificate that expired last year, is telling you something.
Check the dates and the type of coverage, not just whether a certificate exists. General liability covers damage or injury the contractor's work causes to your property or a third party. Workers' compensation covers the contractor's own employees if they're hurt on the job, and it matters even if the crew is small. A certificate showing general liability but no workers' comp still leaves you exposed if a worker falls off your roof and has no coverage of their own to draw on.
If you can, get the certificate sent directly from the contractor's insurance agent rather than handed to you as a printout. It's harder to alter and easier to verify with a phone call. For larger jobs, some homeowners ask to be named as an additional insured on the contractor's policy, which extends a layer of that contractor's own liability coverage to you for the duration of the work. Not every contractor will agree to this, and it's more common on bigger renovations than a single afternoon repair.
None of this guarantees nothing goes wrong, but it changes whose insurance responds first. A properly insured contractor's policy is meant to absorb a jobsite injury or accidental damage before it ever reaches your homeowners policy. Without that, your policy becomes the only one standing between you and the cost, which is the exposure worth closing before anyone sets foot on a ladder.
What if the contractor gets hurt and sues you after the fact?
It happens more than homeowners expect. A contractor falls off a ladder, their own insurance either doesn't exist or doesn't cover enough, and months later a letter arrives naming you. If they weren't insured and weren't your employee, your homeowners liability coverage is the first place that claim lands, since the injury happened on property you own.
Your insurer will want to know why the contractor was there, whether you knew they lacked coverage, and what the work involved. If you hired someone off the books specifically because it was cheaper, that decision can factor into how the claim gets handled. Keep records. The contract, any texts about insurance, and the certificate request if you made one all show you took reasonable steps, even if the contractor misled you about their coverage.
Medical payments coverage, the smaller piece of your policy meant for minor injuries regardless of fault, usually won't stretch far enough for something like a fall from a roof. That coverage is built for a twisted ankle on your front steps, not a worker's comp-sized claim with lost wages and ongoing treatment. Once the bills pass what medical payments covers, it becomes a liability claim, and liability is where the real limits and the real exposure sit.
The line between an employee and an independent contractor matters more than most homeowners realize. Someone who works for you regularly, shows up on your schedule, and uses your tools can look more like household help than a hired contractor once an insurer or a court looks closely. That shift changes what coverage applies, and it may mean you needed a separate policy for domestic workers in the first place. A one-time repair from a true contractor rarely raises this question, but if you bring in help often, it's worth asking your agent where the line falls.
Before the crew shows up
Ask for the contractor's certificate of insurance and check the dates before work starts. Then look at your own liability limit and ask whether it's enough to cover what their policy doesn't.
