Hired an electrician to come out to the house and do some work. The thought never occured to me to ask if he was insured. However, upon investigation, I found out he was not. Said he could renew his insurance which ran out in February, but not till later this week and on top of that the price would go up from what he origianlly quoted me.

He is by far the least expensive of the quotes I received and he comes with high recommendations on doing excellent work.

How would you handle this situation?

How much work is he going to do? Install a ceiling fan or one outlet I wouldnt care that much. If he is re-wiring the entire house it is a different story.

RUN AWAY. NOW.

The guy is seriously shady. You want insured and bonded.

If he does something that burns down your house, and your insurance company finds out he did electrical work, they could deny claims.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-Thomas Jefferson

Just because he is not insured/bonded does not make him shady. It could very well be he does great work but can not afford the high cost of being bonded.

Prior to me going to work for the City in the electric dept I did residential electric work. I was not bonded as the cost was way too high. I did and still do great work with a spotless track record. Don't judge based on his lack of insurance alone! I would however, check references!!!

If anything were to happen, as long as he his licensed and it passed code inspections your insurance co should not give you a hard time.

Just my .02

~Michael


[This message has been edited by MWTrowbridge (edited 3/22/2010 11:19a).]

If this were your brother-in-law installing a porch light, no harm no foul. The fact that his price goes up when you request insurance means he's a really, really, really, low-key one man shop, or a shade-tree sparky with a truck and business cards. Is he licensed (won't guarantee he knows what he's doing, but it's a step in the right direction)? If he is, there should be "TECL XXXX" on his vehicle. Did you find him out of the phone book, or was he a referral?

quote:

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12. Are there any insurance requirements for a licensee?

Yes, for Electrical Contractors, Electrical Sign Contractors, and Residential Appliance Installation Contractors. The requirements are as follows:

(1) Minimum $300,000 per occurrence (combined for property damage and bodily injury);
(2) Minimum $600,000 aggregate (total amount the policy will pay for property damage and bodily injury coverage); and
(3) Minimum $300,000 aggregate for products and completed operations.

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http://www.license.state.tx.us/electricians/elecfaq.htm

John Doe can be licensed without insurance (works for a school district, building manager, etc.), but when he becomes the proprietor of John Doe Electric, the above requirements kick in.

some of you people are nuts!!!! I am in the sub contracting business and insurance /bonds are outrageous...understandably a small one man shop probably doesn't have the $$$ for bonds but probably does great work...ask for a reference and quit being a college grad elitist and alarmist,

Col. A 1976

More info I got from the contractor that recommeded this fellow:

The electrician owns his own company but was going to do this job on a cash basis. His insurance (for the company) expired in February and he has not renewed at this point due to the high cost. So, I have the option of just doing a cash deal and saving some $$, or requiring him to get insurance renewed and the price goes up.

However, if this fool falls off the latter and breaks his neck, I'm screwed, correct?

The list of work he is doing is rather lengthy, but nothing overly technical.

Adding can lights, grounding outlets, adding outlets, adding mount for ceiling fan and a chandelier, adding light switches for new lights added.

I would not hire an uninsured electrician.

I might hire an uninsured painter, carpet layer, sheet rock guy, tree trimmer, etc. but not an electrician nor a plumber.

When their stuff goes bad, either today or sometime down the line, the damage is often catastrophic and crazy expensive to repair. That's not a chance I'd be willing to take. Their handiwork can also be very dangerous when not done properly. (Don't forget, plumbers do gas lines too.)

...but that's just me.

I worked as an electrician for 3 years in college. I would only work for a licensed/bonded company.

That being said, its your call.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-Thomas Jefferson

quote:

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quit being a college grad elitist

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You know, I won't hire any subs that didn't go Ivy League. And no Yalies.

Lighten up Francis.

quote:

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I am not your lawyer, the following is not legal advice and you should consult a qualified and licensed attorney.

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What if I watch Judge Judy all the time instead?

What kind of bond would you have a electric service company have in place?

A payment and performance bond? A bid bond? A bond required by a municipality for working within a particular cities boundaries?

Fwiw, I had a guy from my church come out and install a new breaker box, and I have no idea if he was bonded or insured or anything, but he did a great job.

quote:

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some of you people are nuts!!!! I am in the sub contracting business and insurance /bonds are outrageous...understandably a small one man shop probably doesn't have the $$$ for bonds but probably does great work...ask for a reference and quit being a college grad elitist and alarmist,

Col. A 1976

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Worked 8 years as an HVAC tech, 5 of those under my boss's license and the other 3 under my own. I was never bonded but my insurance cost me $500/ year. A lack of insurance is INEXCUSABLE. It's also a major violation with the state if you're licensed (working unlicensed is an even bigger one).

For every good unlicensed contractor, there are easily 10 bad fly-by-night contractors out there looking to make an easy buck. The "cheapest" bid will not always be the cheapest in the end.

Whelp, all that being said...he's coming back out Friday to finish the job.

I'll let you know if my house burns down.

I may be wrong but if you own the home and have filed your homestead exemption with the city then you are allowed to do any work on your home. Depending on the type of work you may have to get a permit which means you have to register as a general contractor with the city. Then you can pull the permit yourself
If the work either doesn't require a permit or you are your own GC you can hire whomever you want. The requirement for insurance only applies if the sub has to pull the permit.
This is the case if it's a new construction, or if you haven' owned the home long enough to qualify for the homestead exemption.

If you are worried about the guy draw up a contract outlining expectations and guarantees and make him sign it.
If he is small enough not to be able to afford insurance he won't want to deal with a suit because he did a poor job and will be forced to fix anything not up to code
Never hire subs for critical work ( plumbing, electrica, foundation etc..) without a contract.
If they are unwilling to guarantee with a contract get someone else

[This message has been edited by AGaddy (edited 3/23/2010 3:08p).]

I wouldn't consider using anyone that is unlicensed unless it is an extremely small project. As for insurance and bonding, it's more of a sign to me that the contractor has some financial stability. If he can't afford the protection that his competitors offer, then he must have a huge discount over those that have an actual overhead. I hate seeing guys that work out of their truck that want to charge the same amount as someone with an office, insurance, bond, license, etc.