What Should You Do if a Contractor Damages Your Property?

If you discover that a contractor has damaged your property, you should let the contractor know about the damage, evaluate whether the damage is covered by your homeowners insurance and consider asking an attorney to help you navigate the process of requesting compensation. Keep in mind that home insurance covers sudden damage that can be linked to a contractor’s work but likely won’t help you pay to undo a contractor’s mistakes that could lead to damage later on.

Check out the rest of this article to learn more about what to do if a contractor damages your property and how to vet contractors before hiring them to work on your home.

On This Page

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  What To Do if a Contractor Damages Your Property

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  Does Home Insurance Cover Damage Caused by a Contractor?

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  How To Ensure You Hire the Right Contractor

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  FAQs

What To Do if a Contractor Damages Your Property

You should take the following steps after a contractor damages your home or belongings:

1. Stop working with the contractor until the issue is resolved.
2. Thoroughly document the damaged property by taking pictures or filming videos.
3. Communicate with the contractor about the damage and request compensation or, if the damage is covered by your home insurance, ask them to pay the deductible.
4. File a claim on your homeowners insurance or the contractor’s commercial insurance as appropriate.
5. Keep records of pertinent information such as invoices and email correspondence.
6. Reach out to an experienced construction defect lawyer if the contractor denies responsibility for the damage and it isn’t covered by your home insurance.

Does Home Insurance Cover Damage Caused by a Contractor?

Your homeowners insurance policy may cover damage that a contractor is responsible for but this can vary depending on the type of damage and the details of your coverage. See the below sections for a rundown of situations when your insurance company pays to undo contractor damage.

Accident Coverage

A standard home insurance policy should cover various kinds of accidental damage caused by a contractor. Homeowners insurance generally provides dwelling coverage on an open peril basis, meaning any sudden damage a contractor causes to the structure of your home including your doors, walls, ceilings and windows should be covered unless that source of damage is specifically excluded by your policy.

Meanwhile, most policies provide personal property coverage on a narrower named peril basis, which means that they only cover sources of damage that are explicitly mentioned in the policy. Nevertheless, your belongings should still be insured against numerous types of damage a contractor could be responsible for such as damage from fires, explosions, smoke, vehicles, falling objects, power surges and water or steam discharges from home systems or appliances.

Poor Workmanship

Some policies outright exclude coverage for construction defects and other types of faulty workmanship, so your insurer likely won’t reimburse you if a contractor you hire simply fails to do their job correctly.^[1]

For example, if your air conditioning system struggles to distribute cool air throughout your home because an HVAC technician did not properly seal the ducts when they were installing the system, your insurance company likely won’t pay for you to hire a new contractor to replace or fix the system.

You should note that, even though poor workmanship generally isn’t covered by homeowners insurance, it may instead be covered by your contractor’s commercial coverage if their policy includes professional liability insurance.

Resulting Damage

While your policy may not directly cover inadequate workmanship, it will likely cover sudden damage that stems from your contractor’s poor performance. For example, your insurance provider will likely cover damage to your house and possessions from an electrical fire caused by an electrician’s faulty wiring.

Similarly, your policy may cover water damage from a pipe that suddenly bursts because your plumber failed to properly insulate it after installing it. However, homeowners insurance generally doesn’t cover gradual damage, so you might not be covered if a leaky pipe progressively causes water damage.

Your Coverage Limits

Depending on the scope of your contractor’s construction project, your policy may not include enough dwelling insurance to fully cover it once it’s finished since your home is usually insured at its replacement cost value. For example, your existing coverage may not account for your house’s increased value after a home remodeling contractor adds a new bedroom.

As a result, you may need to update your coverage limits whenever a contractor does substantial work on your home to make sure it is fully covered in case a catastrophic peril completely destroys it.^[2]

How To Ensure You Hire the Right Contractor

One of the best ways to avoid contractor damage to property is to take steps like these to make sure you hire a reputable contractor who is qualified to do the job:

• Make sure the company or contractor you hire has insurance: While it may not prevent damage from happening, requesting a certificate of general liability insurance from a company or individual contractor up front can at least provide you with peace of mind since you will know that your construction company’s insurer can cover any damage to your property that the contractors are responsible for.
• Verify their license and information: Many states have laws requiring certain types of contractors to be licensed, so you may be able to look up a contractor on an online database to verify that they actually have the licenses and other credentials they claim to have.
• Ask for examples of past work done: You are more likely to encounter high-quality work from a contractor who is able to provide picture or video evidence that they have successfully completed similar home renovation projects in the past.
• Read online reviews: Some contractors have customer reviews built into their company websites, while you may be able to find other contractors on independent review websites. If you encounter a significant number of negative reviews or can’t find any reviews at all for a certain contractor, you should be wary of hiring them.

Dan Brill, an attorney and the founder of Brill Law Group, also recommends asking for references, checking to see if the contractor is affiliated with a professional industry organization that has strict membership requirements and shopping around.

“Obtaining multiple bids is wise — not just for comparison but to assess how each contractor proposes to complete the job,” Brill said in a message to SmartFinancial. “This can give you a sense of their professionalism and thoroughness. Don’t just go with the cheapest option; weigh the cost against the quality and reliability indicators you’ve gathered.”