When you invite a contractor in to your home you are offering a fair amount of trust to that professional. You are trusting them to work in your home, you are trusting them to be an expert and to know what they are doing, and you are trusting them to make things better.
Before you let anyone work on your home you should always ask them to show their certificate of insurance. Once you know that they have one, you can ask to be added to the contractor’s policy as an “additional insured.” Most people have no idea this is even an option, and once you’re added the contractor’s insurance covers the customer in case a worker is hurt on their property. If they have not done this and a worker is hurt, their homeowners insurance would be responsible.
You also need to make sure that anyone working on your home is licensed to do so. This includes a general contractor as well as all of the subcontractors working with them. If someone is working on your home and they don’t have a license your insurance company can choose to walk away if something goes wrong. If your home was built before 1978 the federal government requires all such tradespeople to become certified renovators and to take required steps to contain lead contamination.
Take all of things in to account before hiring your next contractor and you will feel a lot more confident about the contractor and the project.