All Forum Posts by: Gurjot Grewal

@Alecia Loveless In hindsight this is what I should've done. Much less headache for myself as well. This is what I'll do going forward, thank you. 

@Michael Smythe I did try to coordinate. But turns out they have been unable to connect with the tenant. The tenant denies anyone is reaching out to him according to my handyman. So someone is telling lies. 

Closed my first property earlier this year. Its managed by a PM. I wanted to get some basic maintenance work done like fix some loose siding, fix downspout, clean gutters. Also some work inside the house like recaulk the bathtub, fix a window sil, add a carbon monoxide detector. 

Anyways I had a handyman lined up to do this work. He had assumed that the tenant ordered this work. He called the tenant and was turned away from the property. I had assumed he would line up a day with the tenant to get this done. 

Should I not get the interior work done to give the tenant his space? Or should the handyman coordinate with the tenant to find a day to get all this done? 

I have some very basic work that needs doing. But would also like to add a trustworthy contact who I can work with again in the future. I've reached out to a couple but not many responses. I feel maybe the  job is too small or they are unhappy that I'm not a local. Any suggestions here ? 

The work : 

-Gutter cleaning
-fix downspouts
-fix loose sidings
-carbon monoxide detector install
-bath silicone

Small job. Asked for proof of insurance. It was like pulling teeth asking for this.  He finally sends me an expired policy. I say hey it looks expired. At this point im assuming hes uninsured. He says no thats the start date. It clearly says expiration date. Sends me a screen shot of a payment going out of his bank account. Cant even tell who its going to. Me being tired of this back and forth, call the agent on his old policy. She says yes hes insured sends me a updated certification. I send it to him and say looks like we are good to go, lets get this started. And he loses it. Says I had no right to go behind his back, that no one has ever even asked him for proof of insurance, let alone contact his agent. Says I shouldn't own property if I need insurance over such small job. 

Now I have no issues if someone doesnt want to carry insurance. But I personally only choose to work with insured workers. And regardless I will verify if they are insured. 

Did I do something wrong here?

Could I have handled this differently ?

@Russell Brazil is getting added as additionally insured or additional interest not common ? It would not cost the handyman a dime, and does not change protection in anyway for him. From my understanding if he gets hurt on the job it would just add a layer of protection for the landlord. 

-small job $1300. Gutters, downspout repair, siding etc

-good reviews on angis list, has his company registered as a LLC, referred to me by a local contact

-can provide proof of insurance but will not add me to it as additionally insured. 

Am I being overly cautious? Was it wrong of me to request this for a small job?
He is willing to provide proof of insurance but not willing to add me to it. His reason being if he did this for every private buyer he'd have 1000s on his insurance. He's not comfortable doing this with me yet. Said he has only done this with property management companies, and that no private buyer has ever even requested this from him. 

Is there any alternative solution here or should I find a new handyman ? 

Also if he has his own liability insurance, my home is insured what added benefit does getting me added as additionally insured provide? 

@Mark Williams If the handyman carries his own liability insurance, and my home is insured, how necessary is that extra layer of protection ? I asked the handyman to add me as additionally insured but he said that is not something he feels comfortable doing.

@Kyle Sosnowski The handyman was referred to me by a contractor who used to work with my PM.

Its about $1300 of work. Basic things, gutter cleaning, downspout repair, siding repair etc. 

I asked for proof of insurance and he said I was the first person to ever ask him. Other than PMs. Said hell get it to me before the work starts. Is getting added as additionally insured overkill? 

thank you everyone. I decided to go forward with this handyman without trying to haggle. With the distance and only have the 1 property I do expect a certain cost of doing business. But I feel this price is fair as long as the work gets done and he is trustworthy. 

Hey everyone. I have a handyman stopping by this upcoming week to my long distance property. The work is pretty basic, more maintenance than anything. He was referred to me by a local contact. Hes also well reviewed on angies list. He did say he was insured as well. 

-ill ask for proof of insurance 

-pics before and after work is done

Is there anything else I could do to further protect myself ? I know I could get my entity added as additionally insured, write up a contract, get an inspector to verify etc. but this seems like a bit much for just getting gutters cleaned, minor siding and downspout repairs.