Hiring licensed, insured and bonded subs and contractors

[Sam Leon]

Got a question.

You hire a company to perform a task.  Let's say painting or window, you hired "ABC PAINTING".  They are licensed, insured and bonded.  You checked their license number at the state department of professional regulations and it's current.

On the day of the job, the crew arrived in a truck with a decal saying "XYZ PAINTING".  Hmmm, so they sub-ed me out? , and the crew members aren't fluent English speakers.  I called ABC, and ABC told me on the phone that "they are the same, they work together all the time"...so they sub-ed me out to another company.  Same thing happened 2 months ago with Hulett Environmental pest control, signed a contract with them and "Captain Termite" shows up to do the job.

Now while the crew of this XYZ company is taking a break during lunch, I gave them some Gatorade and spoke to one guy and found out he is not an "employee" of XYZ.  He is a freelance "worker" and being paid $8 an hour.  I asked him if he's covered if he falls off the ladder and he looked at me like HUH...?

I have this picture of some of these guys were hanging out at the Home Depot parking lot and they got picked up by XYZ who is a sub of ABC and I signed a contract with ABC.

Now, how does this work.  If someone dropped a hammer on the big toe am I protected by my contract with ABC...or not?