Protect yourself

When getting recommendations from friends and family for contractors, you may come across a services that is not licensed. A bid from an unlicensed contractor may be much lower than those from licensed contractors promising to do the same work. It may sound appealing to save money if you can still get great workmanship, but this is where many consumers fall into the trap. Hiring the cheapest contractor may cost you more in the long run.

In most circumstances, unlicensed contractors offer lower quotes because they do not pay a licensing fee, or obtain a bond to protect their work, and in many cases, don’t purchase liability or workers compensation insurance. Without these expenses, the unlicensed contractor can offer a lower rate.

Although a licensed contractor may not do better work than an unlicensed one, the risk of hiring an unlicensed contractor is too great for homeowners. Here’s why: