Residential Customer asked for quote. I gave a great price. They called back days later asking for me to send a copy of my Insurance Certificate and business license ahead of time. First time I’ve had a request like this for residential. Need advice. Is this something I should do? It seems like a lot to go through for a residential property.
I send out a COI with every quote automatically. Never in 9 years been asked for business license but if someone wanted would have no hesitation to sending.
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Some times this happens when you come in way lower than your competitors…
They like the price, but they are also doubtful as to why your price is so low. They will take the risk of paying less, but want to know that you have coverage should “you get what you pay for” happens
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I get requests every few years, I just have my broker/agent send over the form, no biggie.
We have a lot of ‘Chuck In A Truck’ types that pretend to know what they are doing so people are very wary and skeptical.
On a side note we don’t have business licenses here for WC and PW.
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Carry copy of insurance in truck, no biggie. one in a hundred will ask to see proof you are insured. People are pretty skeptical, consider some of the horror stories you hear.
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Send it out a few times a year for residential jobs. If they seem sketchy in asking at all, I ask them to sign the proposal and tell them I’ll send it before the job. Probably meaningless, but makes me feel like I won 
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How is it a lot to do for you? You should have digital copies of both…OR you will after you do this one initially 
I’m with @Racer on this one. I include a copy of my insurance as well as my business license with every estimate I send out. I spend good money on that insurance and I like to make sure everyone knows I’m above board because there’s guys in town turbo nozzling roofs.
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Thing is, each certificate of insurance should go directly from the underwriter to the potential customer, without us ever being in the loop. The Certs will be dated and have the customer’s job address.
The reason for this is that certificates are easy to photoshop, many un-insured service providers just carry fakes in their glovebox to wave at potential customers. Shady as ■■■■. It’s worth educating customers on this, and an unbelievable number get back to me to say that the “other guy” ghosted them once the issue was pressed.
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Exactly. I refuse to waste time sending a residential customer a COI and I’m not gonna bother my agent with sending one for a housewash. Sending your copy to someone doesn’t mean much as it isn’t official or binding. No business license anymore in NC. Voters did away with that nonsense.
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I only go through all that if someone asks to be named on the COI, otherwise they can take my blanket COI, or not, up to them.
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I put a link to my COI at the bottom of my websites. If someone asks, they fill out a quick form and its emailed to them
It lets them know you have.
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Last time we had a residential ask for a COI, they filed a claim… To my recollection it has been like the 2nd or 3rd COI for residential we’ve ever sent. The claim was BS and we have tons of evidence to prove it, so I doubt our insurance will pay out… but yeah, it is now 100% a red flag for us.
It’s mildly a ‘red flag’ for me, but here in Louisville we have a ton of ‘Chuck in a Truck’ types and I keep hearing countless stories of bad contractors screwing things up so I’m not terribly suspicious if they ask for one.
Can you imagine if there’s actually a guy named Chuck in Louisville and he’s reading this sitting in his truck?
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I did see one guy in an old pickup, had a big sign that said ‘F… Biden’.
Does that count?
I did go around with a Canadian flag on my truck (except on customer’s property) to support the Freedom Convoy…
I get it since you don’t really “care” about residential, but it’s no big deal at all. I just send Nancy over at Williamson an email with the persons info and she typically has it emailed in 5-10 minutes. I always tell out clients that ask that it’s smart to do so.
I’ve never had someone file a claim and we send out COI’s a couple of times a month. We document everything during our teams walkthrough, so there isn’t really any opportunity for a client to blame us for something that isn’t actually our fault.
Nancy is awesome
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