Texas · Hiring a contractor
Their insurance and your homeowners policy are not the same check
A contractor’s general liability policy pays for damage or injury caused by their work, if their policy covers it. Your homeowners policy pays for covered perils to your house. A torch that starts a fire, a worker who falls, or a roof left open in a storm can land on one, the other, or neither, depending on whose form applies. Collect the certificate before the first day, and call your own company before a major tear-off.
Texas homeowners. What a certificate is: certificate of insurance. The contractor’s own product: business insurance.
What to ask for
General liability, with limits you can read. Workers’ compensation if they have employees. A homeowner’s policy does not replace that, which is why an injured worker can become your problem if they have none. Licensing and bonding depend on the city and the trade. This page cannot list every rule. The contract should name the scope, the price, and when you pay. Do not pay the whole job before the work that affects the roof or the structure is done.
What the renovation does to your policy
A roof replacement, an addition, or a house you move out of during the work can change underwriting. Some companies want notice. Some treat a long vacancy differently from a lived-in remodel. An open roof in hail season is a loss waiting on a form that may call unfinished work a different risk. Tell the company before demolition, not after a storm. Hail season. Policy types: Texas home policy types.
If their work damages the house, your company may pay a covered peril and then seek the money from the contractor. That is subrogation. It is not a reason to skip their liability policy. If the damage is faulty workmanship rather than a sudden covered event, your homeowners form often does not pay it, and their liability form may not either. The contract is what is left.
