Picture this:
You’re at work while your lawn care contractor is working on cleaning up your yard. You get a call, and your contractor sounds urgent. He tells you to come over right away.
Once you get home, you know something is wrong. The project doesn’t seem to be going the way you want it to from the moment you walk in, but the nervous energy in the room makes you more worried than the disheveled worksite. As you work your way to the back of your home, you see it – shattered glass everywhere.
You’re confused and angry. When you left for work, the large sliding glass door that leads to your patio was fine. Now, it’s laying on the ground in a million pieces. Your contractor told you that there’d been an accident and while they were working, his crew accidentally shattered the door.
At first, your only concern is whether the landscaping team sustained an injury. When you find out everyone is OK, you start to think about the next steps. What are you going to do about your shattered door? Who’s going to pay to repair the damage?
Unfortunately, these aren’t always easy questions to answer. Depending on the damage in the circumstances, there are a few ways to handle property damage by an independent contractor.
Here’s What to Do…
In this guide, we’ll talk about your options for compensation after a contractor damages your property and help you get through this situation with minimal frustration.
It can be infuriating when landscapers damage your property, but patience is essential. You need to act accordingly, or both parties will ultimately lose. Below, let’s talk about what to do if a contractor damages your property. By staying calm and handling the situation appropriately, you can minimize the cost of repair for you and get the resources you need to repair the damage without paying out of pocket.
“If a contractor damages your property, there are a few steps you can take to minimize your financial responsibility. When the damage is a genuine accident, liability rules may work in your favor.”
Will Insurance Pay for Damage Caused by an Independent Contractor?
Once you learn about the damage to your home or yard, your first question will likely be “who’s going to pay to fix this? “
Ultimately, the party that pays for your home repairs depends on what caused the damage and the presence of homeowners insurance.
If you have homeowners insurance and a landscaper damages your property, it will most likely pay for your repairs.
Your insurance policy will determine how much of the damage it will pay for, but if you have accident coverage, you shouldn’t have to worry much about the cost of repairs.
If you have accident coverage, your homeowners’ insurance policy may cover the repair costs in cases of flooding, fires, and other common mishaps.
However, your insurance policy may seek reimbursement from the contractor’s insurance company to cover the cost of the repair.
Hire a Contractor with Insurance
For this reason, you must hire a contractor with adequate insurance coverage before they start working on your property. If you find a contractor who won’t verify their insurance coverage with you, consider hiring someone who will. Hiring a contractor without insurance could spell disaster if they damage your property.
However, this coverage doesn’t extend to all damages and mistakes caused by contractors. Again – it depends on your specific policy, but homeowners insurance may be limited to accidental coverage for some individuals.
If you’re handling a significant issue, like the broken glass door in our example above, your homeowners’ insurance will likely pay for it. But what about cases that don’t involve accidents, but merely poor craftsmanship?
In some cases, a contractor may not outright damage your property, but they may do a poor job at what you paid them for. For example, they may install a new grill that doesn’t sit evenly and won’t start. You suspect they laid a poor foundation and didn’t connect it properly to your natural gas line.
Your Homeowner’s Insurance
If this happens, don’t rely on your homeowners’ insurance. Standard policies exclude inadequate services and poor workmanship from coverage unless you have a very unique, premium plan. When you’re handling cases where contractors didn’t uphold their end of the contract, you need to address it with them directly.
You may arrange compensation with the contractor directly, or take the matter to court if they refuse to fix what they did wrong. To avoid this, it’s vital to hire a reputable landscaper upfront. We recommend checking with your state’s licensing administrations and the Better Business Bureau to learn more about a contractor’s previous jobs and hear about the quality of their work.
Damage Caused by Poor Workmanship
That being said, damage resulting from poor workmanship may fall under your homeowners’ insurance policy. If your landscaper does a poor job, but the issue is mostly aesthetic, don’t plan on your insurance policy covering it. Conversely, poor workmanship that leads to damage may not be excluded from your plan.
If the type of damage caused by poor workmanship isn’t otherwise excluded from your policy, your homeowners’ insurance may cover the repair costs. For example, a landscaper installs your new grill improperly. During your first use, the natural gas line leaks and starts a fire. Now you have a broken grill and your lawn is charred.
If your homeowners’ insurance policy covers fires, it may not cover the cost to reinstall the grill properly, but it may pay for any damages caused by the initial issue.
Coverage limits are another factor to consider when you’re wondering what to do when a contractor damages your property.
When Does the Independent Contractor’s Insurance Policy Pay for Repairs?
When you’re managing damage to your property, the last thing you want to hear is that your insurance policy won’t cover the damage.
Fortunately, in most cases, homeowners insurance is a great tool to offset the cost of repairs.
But what about cases where your homeowners’ insurance won’t step in?
If you try to file a claim with your homeowners’ insurance company and they don’t agree to pay for the damages, you may need to seek compensation from the contractor’s liability insurance.
Many contractors have contractor liability insurance to pay for damages, accidents, and injuries that happen on the job. Contractors take it a step further, carrying faulty workmanship coverage that allows customers to recover damages for poor quality work, even if the negligent result doesn’t warrant accidental coverage.
Can I Hold an Independent Contractor Liable for Damage They Do to My Property?
One key thing to understand about landscapers and independent contractors is that legally, they are separate from their clients.
Your independent contractor isn’t your employee, and as such, different liabilities factor in when they don’t uphold their end of the contract.
If your landscaper or contractor doesn’t follow through with their end of your agreement, you may rightfully take legal action. That being said, liability is ultimately based on who’s at fault – simply put, any party that damages another persons property or causes them to incur costs related to damages or poor workmanship is financially responsible and legally liable for the repairs.
Your contractor may be at fault if they deliberately damaged your property. If the damage results from negligence or unreasonable carelessness, it may also fall under your homeowners’ insurance coverage.
If your contractor or a landscaper intentionally damaged your property or they didn’t take reasonable steps to avoid the issue, they are liable. This is similar to liability you’ll incur with other individuals. For example, a person who intentionally shatters your television is responsible for the repairs the same way a contractor would be if they deliberately broke your glass door.
When you’re trying to figure out who pays for damages to your property, the fault is crucial. If the damage isn’t a result of carelessness or deliberate action, they are not responsible for paying for it. This will significantly impact your claim and made determine how much you pay out-of-pocket for the repairs.
Will My Contract Impact Liability When a Contractor Damages My Property?
When you hire a landscaper or an independent contractor, your relationship is entirely contractual in the eyes of the law. Your responsibility is to each other are defined by those outlined in your terms of agreement. You both sign a contract for this reason.
Depending on the contractors you hire, your agreement may or may not outline liability and responsibility for damages. If it doesn’t, the typical liability rules above will apply. However, they may not if special rules exist in your contract about liability.
You have the right to define any liability rules you want with your contractor. Your contractor may take responsibility for all damages they make to your property, regardless of who’s at fault. Or they may not be responsible for any damages whatsoever.
Contracts can detail liability in many ways. Your contractor may sign for partial liability and take responsibility for damage that costs up to a certain dollar amount. Additionally, your contractor may take responsibility for certain kinds of damage but not others.
The many liability guidelines your contract may include our endless. Ultimately, you and your contractor can create liability rules; however you please. As long as you both mutually agree on the terms, and they do not break any existing laws in the process.
Depending on the liability clause in your contract, this may work in your favor. The same way courts will enforce the terms of a deal as it is written, they will enforce the liability terms detailed in the agreement. If you have a written contract with your contractor, the court will uphold any liability you outlined.
When you hire a contractor, it’s essential to read your agreement thoroughly. It’s common for people to sign contracts without reading the details, but these details often include vital liability clauses. If you don’t understand your liability before signing an agreement with a contractor, it could harm your case if damages occur.
What do I do Next?
When a contractor damages your property, the first thing you should do is take pictures and get evidence. This will play an important role when you file your claim with your homeowners’ insurance company or the contractors’ insurance provider.
Once you have visual evidence, get an exclamation from the contractor or the damage. Find out if it was intentional, negligent, and what they plan to do for compensation. Chances are, if it’s a genuine accident, your contractor will be more willing to work with you for a solution than in situations where intentional damage is done.
Next, speak with your homeowners’ insurance provider. Show them the evidence and explain the situation. They’ll go over your policy and see what coverage they can offer given your situation.
If your homeowners’ insurance provider doesn’t cover the damage, speak to the contractor’s insurance company. They may pay for the repairs if the damages fall under the contractor’s policy coverage.
Final Thoughts
If a contractor damages your property, there are a few steps you can take to minimize your financial responsibility. When the damage is a genuine accident, liability rules may work in your favor. Many homeowners insurance policies cover accidental damage, which applies when a contractor works on your home.
However, it isn’t always that simple. It’s common for insurance providers to deny claims if they aren’t backed with enough evidence, and you may need to seek compensation from the contractor’s insurance provider directly.
Additionally, the terms of your contract may significantly impact liability in the event of damages. If your contract eliminates liability for certain accidents or negligence or allows for additional liability in certain events, it can determine how much you pay out-of-pocket for the repairs.
For these reasons, we recommend finding a reputable contractor before you begin your project. By working with a team that’s properly insured and uses reasonable liability clauses in their contract, you can minimize disaster when damages occur. Do your research before hiring a landscaper and read testimonials to guarantee you’re hiring someone who will do a quality job, without needing unnecessary, costly repairs.
