Occupational licensing in Detroit

[davewindsor]

That's why I check to make sure every contractor I work with is bonded and insured. Ask them to email you their cert, call the company and verify. Many insurance companies have automated call centers to verify insurance numbers, it really isn't hard.

Think of it this way - you should do the same thing for the license. Just because they have a piece of paper saying they are licensed doesn't mean anything, you still need to call to verify. If you are going to do that with a license, might as well do that with insurance. So what is the license buying you?

Maybe it's different in Detroit. But, it's not that easy to verify insurance in Ontario. To use an example, roofers aren't required to be licensed in Ontario like in Michigan. I had to call 20 places for a roofing quote on a house before one finally faxed me a copy of their insurance certificate with their quote. I called their insurance broker to verify and that's who I went with. I kid you not. I suspect there are a large number of roofers in Ontario that don't carry insurance, run a cash, fly-by-night operation and have drug related criminal records. Complaining about them isn't even a realistic option because it's not anonymous and once they find out who you are, you can expect a few broken windows when you are not around.

Out of those other 19, only four faxed me a written quote--the rest didn't return my call or said they were too busy and gave me a verbal ballpark figure over the phone. Ideally, you should verify insurance if you have the time and patience to call everyone in the phone book. In the amount of time I wasted, I could have redone the roof myself. Maybe it's different in Michigan, but it's not my experience that "it really isn't hard" to verify insurance in Ontario. There is not a call center. You have to call their insurance broker directly.

If a city license required they had an annual criminal record check and proof of insurance and the city verified it, it would make my life a whole lot easier because I could just call the city for a confirmation. At least, that's what I would expect from a city license.

[Wesley Mouch]

...snip...
If a city license required they had an annual criminal record check and proof of insurance and the city verified it, it would make my life a whole lot easier because I could just call the city for a confirmation. At least, that's what I would expect from a city license.

Whether the City takes any effort to verify no criminal background, insurance, and knowledge probably tells you whether this particular license has any public value -- or whether it is just market protection by the incumbents.