Hiring Roofer With No Insurance ??

[Tom Hurlebaus]

I have a friend (not a close friend) whose sole source of income is through word-of-mouth custom furniture and minor remodeling jobs. He’s also worked for a roofing contractor on and off for the last 10 years.

I need my roof re-shingled, with tear off, and he’s offering to do the job. I have a pretty simple roof (no dormers) and, if I was younger, would do the job myself, but ..

I’d like to offer him the job ( he needs the work), but I’m hesitating because he has no insurance.
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Do I have any options ?

Tom

[Dwayne Payne]

I have had to hire several contractors over the years for work. In talking with them about insurance, they have told me that a contractor can "buy" a policy for individual jobs. He should be able to get a liability policy for just you roof work. I have also been told that it is not very expensive.

Dwayne

[Cecil Arnold]

Tom. I'm not a lawyer, but know that any idiot with $50 or so can file a lawsuit. That being said, you have home owner's insurance that could possibly be claimed against, since he would be on your property. On the other hand he is a private contractor who should be responsible for his own insurance. The bottom line, at least in my state, is that if you work for someone (wage person) and don't have anything beyond your job, home, and retirement savings, you are almost lawsuit proof. Where I live, generally, they can't take your homestead, car(s), tools to make a living, or retirement. Remember OJ Simpson, large award against him, but he is still looking for the killer on the golf courses of Florida.

[Lee DeRaud]

Do I have any options ?

Well, you could go out to the garage, find a short piece of clue-by-four, and smack yourself in the forehead with it until you forget about doing something that dumb.

Seriously. No smilies implied or intended.

I'm a bit of a pessimist, but that proposition has more downsides than even I can think of.

[Lee DeRaud]

Tom. I'm not a lawyer, but know that any idiot with $50 or so can file a lawsuit. That being said, you have home owner's insurance that could possibly be claimed against, since he would be on your property. On the other hand he is a private contractor who should be responsible for his own insurance. The bottom line, at least in my state, is that if you work for someone (wage person) and don't have anything beyond your job, home, and retirement savings, you are almost lawsuit proof. Where I live, generally, they can't take your homestead, car(s), tools to make a living, or retirement. Remember OJ Simpson, large award against him, but he is still looking for the killer on the golf courses of Florida.

Yes, you are "lawsuit-proof" in the sense that no award will take your homestead/car/tools/retirement.
But the legal fees to defend yourself against that suit will greatly exceed the cost of a roofing job.

[Tom Hurlebaus]

Thanks for the quick replies. I appreciate the comments and I wasn’t aware of the possible individual job insurance policy option.

If the purchasing of this individual policy is part of the deal (realizing that I’ll be paying for it), is there something else I’m missing ? I’d really like to help him out with a job, but I need to protect myself.
<O
Tom

[tod evans]

tom, i`d call the company who carried my homeowners policy and see if they can do a 30 day rider that would cover the job..02 tod

[Lee DeRaud]

If the purchasing of this individual policy is part of the deal (realizing that I’ll be paying for it), is there something else I’m missing ? I’d really like to help him out with a job, but I need to protect myself.

Just make sure that the policy does in fact cover both his liability (in case he buggers up your house) and your liability (in case he gets hurt in the process).

[Jason Roehl]

You may also want to check whether he has a Workman's Compensation Waiver. It may vary from state to state, but for me in Indiana, it costs me $20 a year to have this little slip of paper that says that the homeowner is not liable if I get injured while working for them. Even with that, I still missed out on a paint job because the homeowner didn't like that--he thought I should have health insurance in case I got hurt on his property (I suppose I could have offered to do the job for about triple!) Oh, well.

[Fred Voorhees]

Yeah, I would definitely make sure to cover my behind on this one. It sounds like it has the potential to really booger up a good freindship.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Just go to your personal insurance agent and tell him you are having your roof repaired by a friend and you need insurance should there be an unexpected accident and/or damage. Such a policy should not be expensive.

[Steve Ash]

Here is my .02. I am a licensed residential building contractor who happens to also spend a lot of my money on insurance. I always run up against these guys who do this stuff "on the side" what protection do you have if he isn't able to finish the job, if the job has leaks, what happens if he accidentaly drops a nail gun off the roof on someones head, who warranties the work,and the list goes on.

I don't know about your area but do you need to pull a permit? (We do here and it has to be a liscensed and insured contractor) Who pays for it and who's name is liable for it? How can he pull a permit if he isn't liscensed? Lots of questions and concerns for you to think about, is the savings worth the risks?

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck.

[Roger Everett]

I'm with Steve Ash. I carry a General Lia. policy ( required by any contractor or sub contractor, that I sub from ). Also In my state I get a workmans comp. exemption from Fl. ( certain regs. apply, one being that I need to be incorp.). This or a WC policy is also required by anyone I sub from. The WC thing is probably the more Important part you need to make sure that anyone doing work on your property needs to have. One fall and there goes the farm. Also in my state you also need a permit to reroof. I don't know how they do it but a building insp. always seems to stop by. And there are 2 inspections required during work. Be carefull
Roger

[Tom Hurlebaus]

This forum is always a valuable source of information and advice and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to bounce ideas off the experts on this board. I hope I haven’t offended any of the licensed contractors with my inquiry about hiring a non-licensed/insured worker.

Steve & Roger, I really appreciate you chiming in with your thoughts and advice … I hadn’t even thought about the need for a permit and I’ll probably need one.
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Saving money, which is always nice, isn’t really one of my concerns with this job. This is one of those situations where a friend is in need of work and I need work done.

Fred’s comment about the potential to really booger up a good friendship is an important point to remember along with Steve’s concerns about the failure to finish the job and the possibility of post job problems.

At this point, I’m going to check with my Home Insurance agent as to the additional one time insurance and check on the permit. I’ll continue to evaluate the other points …. thanks for all the replies.<O
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Tom

[Steve Ash]

I hope I haven’t offended any of the licensed contractors with my inquiry about hiring a non-licensed/insured worker.

No Tom, I'm not offended, I just hope I can educate people as to the potential problems that may be involved. It sounds like we got your thought process going and that is a good thing.