Buyer Beware
Did you know that you could be responsible for a workplace injury if a worker doing work in or around your home were injured?
Yes, it's absolutely true.
When you hire a contractor to do work you need to be asking more questions and asking to see copies of workers compensation insurance and you'll want to see general liability insurance to know that they can cover unforeseen damages.
I get amused when I have asked the question about workers compensation when looking to hire a contractor. Often I get the response "no one has ever asked me for that before".
If a worker is injured on your property and it is reported to workers compensation, you may get left paying for the workers compensation coverage if the company you hired is not complying with workers compensation requirements and keeping their payments up to date.
What you want to see is a valid and up to date clearance certificate. The clearance certificate let's you know that the company has workers compensation coverage should an injury or illness occur while working. You can ask for a copy but in most provinces across Canada, you can go online and pull the clearance certificate yourself. this would be the best option for the best peace of mind. You can usually search by the company's account number or by name. You could do this search right there in their presence.
Here is Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's link for online clearance certificates
For anyone in BC, here is a good link from WorkSafeBC regarding homeowners and determining if you need coverage.
And one last link from the Canadian Home Builders' Association with an article on Insurance and Workers compensation.
Don't get left with a bigger bill than the work you wanted to get done.
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