How To Hire A Legitimate Restoration Company
When your home or business is in need of repairs or restoration, sometimes it’s too urgent to double check who you are hiring. The restoration company may have a deal that seems too good to beat, or it may just be the first pickup truck you saw driving down the road with the company’s name painted on the side, and you need a restoration company right away. How do you know if you are hiring a legitimate company?
Here are some tips on what you should look for.
In the state of Florida, you may think to look on Sunbiz.org first to make sure that a business is active. Sunbiz is a great source to find information about a business, such as how long it’s been operating and who the owners are (1). However, just because a business is on Sunbiz does not mean that it’s properly licensed and insured. By hiring a business that is not licensed, you may run into some serious problems.
To find out of a person or business is licensed in Florida, go to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) and search for a licensee (2). A licensed contractor passed the required tests, has the required years of experience and qualifications, passed a credit and criminal background check, and carries the appropriate insurance.
The DBPR has an online guide with examples of what services require a State of Florida license (3). There are several categories of contractors, including general, building, residential, roofing, air conditioning, mechanical, pool/spa, plumbing and others.
Some Florida jurisdictions require certified contractors to obtain an Occupational License to do business in their cities and counties. Keep in mind, though that an occupational license is not a measure of regulated or competent service providers. It just means they applied to engage in or conduct business in a certain jurisdiction.
Be wary of an unlicensed contractor who tries to pass off an occupational license as a contractor’s license.
An unlicensed contractor is typically uninsured as well. With no insurance, there is no liability.
This means that you could be ultimately liable for personal or financial injuries to others. If they happen to damage your property, there will be no insurance to cover it. That is bad enough, but this also could mean poor qualifications and poor workmanship, possible criminal backgrounds, scam artists, not being covered under the homeowner’s insurance policy, limited resources for broken contracts, and noncompliance with building codes.
All of these risks could lead to a very bad end result. Professional Restoration Services of Tampa Bay, Inc suggests that before you agree to any repairs, you should confirm the individual or company is licensed and has insurance.
So how do you make sure you are hiring a legitimate company? When you call up a restoration company, make sure that they are not only a registered business in the state of Florida, but also make sure that they are licensed and insured. Ask to be able to see proof.
After that, look for reviews about the company and ask for references. Look up their business page in Google Maps (4). If they have one, see if there are any reviews. If they don’t have a page, be curious as to why they don’t. You may want to look for reviews in other places such as Angie’s List.
Don’t be afraid to quickly get to know the person or company that will be doing the work for you.
When they are evaluating your home or business, talk to them. Get a feel for their personalities, work ethic, and level of professionalism. Ask them questions about their past work. It may not be best to have work done by someone you don’t feel you can trust.
By following all of these steps, you should feel more confident in making sure that you are hiring a legitimate restoration company because you have much more valuable information about them.
If you have questions about something that may be going wrong with your restoration process, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced attorney such as Cohen Law Group today. We offer a free and confidential initial consultation.
References:
(1) Sunbiz.org
(2) Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation
(3) http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/division/Servicesthatrequirealicense_Construction.html
(4) Google Maps
DISCLAIMER: This website is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Cohen Law Group through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship. This site is legal advertising. Please review the full disclaimer for more information by clicking here.
