Homeowners and Workers Comp

The California Department of Insurance has issued a press release, warning homeowners to make sure to verify the license and insurance status of any contractors they hire to do work on their house. An uninsured contractor or sub-contractor, if injured, can make a claim against the homeowner under California Workers Comp law.

This kind of exposure varies from state to state--some states have addressed this issue by statute, seeking to exempt homeowners who hire people to work on their home-- but many, such as California, have not.

This sort of thing happened to my own grandmother, many years ago. She hired a roofer who, it turns out, did not have insurance. The poor man fell off the roof to his death, and she was held liable under Illinois Workers Comp laws (which have since been amended to make this sort of thing less likely.

Of course, even in states that have tried to address the issue, the law may not be settled and clear-cut. And I would hasten to add that I am not an attorney. This article is not intended to offer any advice or opinion about the legal question of who is and is not eligible for Workers Compensation benefits. Those rules vary state by state, and evolve over time as well, as the law is changed or as court decisions are rendered.

So a word to the wise--check your state's laws on this point before hiring anyone to do work at your home, and then carefully verify their license and insurance status.