A Cautionary Tale: Liability Insurance

• Liability insurance is not required by contractors in California
• No insurance company issues liability insurance to roofing contractors that use torches (torched on roof)
• The majority of roofing contractors listed in the phone book have some type of insurance, but not liability insurance to protect you, the consumer.

Liability insurance that protects you is called Product and Completion Aggregate and is always abbreviated PRODUCTS COMP/OP AGG (see below)

(Excerpt from a certificate of insurance)
There must be a dollar amount in the PRODUCTS - COMP/OP AGG block or there is no liability insurance GENERAL AGGREGATE (the line above COMP/OP AGG) is the insurance that protects the roofing contractor, not you To see the Contractors State License Board’s information regarding commercial liability insurance, click here To see the Better Business Bureau’s reliability report for Standard Roofing Company, click here

Workers Compensation Insurance:
Another Cautionary Tale

Some contractors “state” that they have no employees, and therefore pay no workers compensation premiums. If you hire one of these contractors and an employee gets hurt on the job, it is typical that the attorney for the injured worker sues both the homeowner and the contractor. If the contractor skips the country, guess who is left holding the bag? The homeowner with deep pockets.

To see if any contractor has workers compensation insurance on the California State License Board website, click here.