Florida Pool Pro
sm
• March 2015
15
with them.
For the remainder of our clients, or potential clients, we can only hope that
they are and will act reasonably if given reasonable facts. And what are those
facts?
The consumer needs to be aware of the pitfalls of hiring a contractor who is
not properly licensed or properly insured to do the work they are asking them
to do. Here are some simple, but scary facts.
If I, as a consumer, hire a company that does not carry the proper workers’
compensation insurance and they, or one of their employees, gets hurt in your
house, then the employee will file a claim against your homeowners insurance.
And guess what, most homeowners policies will deny the claim when they
find out that the contractor was not licensed, or was not properly licensed to
perform the work you hired them to do. In today’s world, the injured party will
then come after you personally and more times than not they will win.
If I, as a consumer, hire a company that is under-licensed, or not properly
licensed to put in a replacement pool light, and it is done wrong, and someone
is electrocuted, the injured party is coming after me. Once the homeowners
insurance finds out the person hired could not legally do the work, then the
claim is denied and the injured party comes after the homeowner personally.
Thirdly, homeowners need to know that as a part of the requirements to keep
up a contractor’s license, most states require ongoing continuing education
which keeps a contractor current on product changes, changes in the building
codes, and what an each license in a particular industry allows a contractor
to perform.
It is our duty, and also a good strategy, to go over these potential pitfalls with
each and every bid we present. The FSPA has a good supply of materials that
go over these very items and we should include them in our contracts.
Continual repitition of these key facts and education of our customers will
lead to a better educated consumer, which always leads to more profitable
contracts for everyone.
