Every few months I hear some version of the same story. Homeowner gets a quote. Price looks good. Guy seems friendly. Work starts. Something goes wrong — water damage, a structural problem, an electrical fire waiting to happen — and now the homeowner is calling around trying to figure out what to do. The contractor is gone. No license on file. No insurance. No recourse.

This is not bad luck. This is what happens when you skip a five-minute conversation at the front door.

Ask Before You Shake Hands

Before you let anyone quote work on your house, before you talk scope or timeline or price, you ask two questions:

Are you licensed in this state?
Can I see proof of insurance?

That’s it. That’s the whole filter.

A legitimate contractor will not flinch. They’ll pull out a card, give you a license number, tell you to look it up. They carry a certificate of insurance because their clients ask for it routinely. It’s not an insult. It’s Tuesday.

If someone gets defensive, makes excuses, says they left it in the truck and never follows up, or tells you to trust them — that’s your answer. The conversation is over. Move on.

What You’re Actually Checking For

Licensing means the contractor has met the requirements your state sets for their trade. For a general contractor, an electrician, a plumber — there are tests, continuing education requirements, registration with a licensing board. The license number is public record. You can look it up online, verify it’s active, and see if there are any complaints or disciplinary actions filed against them.

This matters because unlicensed work often can’t get permitted. Work that can’t get permitted can’t be inspected. Work that can’t be inspected doesn’t get caught when it’s wrong — until it fails. And when that day comes, your insurance company is going to want to know who did the work and whether it was done legally. When the answer is no, you’re on your own.

Insurance has two parts, and you need both.

General liability covers property damage. If they knock out a wall and hit something they shouldn’t have, if a worker drops a ladder through your bay window, if they cause a flood — that’s what general liability is for.

Workers’ compensation covers injuries to their crew while they’re on your property. Without it, if someone falls off your roof, you could be the one holding the bill. That is not a hypothetical. It has happened to homeowners in every state. The lawsuit shows up at your door, not the contractor’s.

Ask to see the certificate. The certificate will show coverage limits and an expiration date. If it expired six months ago, it might as well be a grocery receipt.

What to Do with the Information

Once you have the license number, go to your state’s contractor licensing board website and run it. Takes two minutes. You’re looking for: active status, the correct trade category, and no major complaints. A complaint or two over thirty years of business is not a red flag. A license that shows suspended, expired, or revoked is a full stop.

For insurance, call the agency listed on the certificate and confirm the policy is active. Most homeowners don’t do this. You should. It’s a phone call. It takes five minutes. The policy a contractor handed you last year might not be the policy they have today.

I had a client in Northeast Philly who skipped this step on a bathroom renovation. The tile guy the GC brought in wasn’t a subcontractor — he was a buddy with a truck and some experience. No license. No insurance. He cracked a supply line behind the wall and didn’t tell anyone. By the time they found the water damage two months later, the buddy was unreachable and the GC claimed the work wasn’t his responsibility. That homeowner paid twice for the same bathroom.

The documentation you collect upfront is the paper trail that protects you if something goes sideways. Without it, you’re hoping nothing goes wrong. That’s not a plan.

The Price Question

Unlicensed and uninsured contractors are almost always cheaper. That’s the trade. They don’t pay for licensing. They don’t carry insurance. They don’t pull permits. Their overhead is lower because they’re cutting every corner that costs them money.

The difference in the quote is real. And it looks attractive right up until the moment you need one of those things they skipped.

Legitimate overhead isn’t padding. It’s what makes the work defensible when something goes sideways — because on a long enough timeline, something always does.

The Short Version

Call any contractor you’re considering. Ask for their license number and a certificate of insurance before they set foot on your property. Verify both. If they can produce them without hesitation, you have a starting point. If they can’t — or won’t — thank them for their time and call the next number on your list.

This is not complicated. It is not rude. It is the minimum due diligence you owe yourself as a homeowner before writing a check to a stranger.

The ones who can’t answer the question are telling you everything you need to know.