The four documents
Each answers a different question about who pays. A contractor holding three of the four leaves one question open, and it is worth knowing which one.
General liability insurance
Answers · who pays for damage to property
Covers damage the contractor causes to property that is not theirs — your roof, your fence, a neighbour's vehicle. Two numbers matter: the per-occurrence limit and the aggregate limit. A limit well below the value of what sits under the tree is the practical risk, not the absence of a policy.
Verify by: requesting the certificate directly from the insurance agent named on it, not from the contractor. A certificate is a snapshot of a policy that may since have lapsed; the agent can confirm it is current.
Workers' compensation coverage
Answers · who pays if a worker is hurt on your property
This is the document most often missing and the one with the largest exposure attached. Tree work involves chainsaws at height, and injuries are severe when they occur. Where a crew is uninsured, an injured worker's costs can be pursued through the property owner.
Verify by: checking your state's workers' compensation coverage verification service, which many states publish as a searchable public tool. Requirements for small crews and sole proprietors vary by state.
Licence or registration
Answers · whether they are permitted to do this work here
Requirements differ sharply by state and sometimes by municipality — some jurisdictions license tree work specifically, others regulate it under general contracting, and some require only local registration. The relevant question is what your jurisdiction requires, not whether the contractor holds an impressive-sounding number.
Verify by: searching the state licensing board's public lookup for the number given. The lookup shows current status and complaint history; a number that returns nothing is the finding.
The written scope of work
Answers · what was actually agreed
The document people skip, and the one that decides every later disagreement. "Trim the big oak" is not a scope. A usable one identifies each tree by location, states what will be removed, and says explicitly what happens to the debris and the stump — the two items that most often turn out to be excluded.
Verify by: reading it against the property before signing. If a tree you expected to be included is not named, it is not included.
What a homeowner's own policy typically does not do
The assumption that "my insurance will handle it" is where most of the cost surprise lives. Policy terms vary, so read the second column as questions for your own insurer.
| Situation | Where the cost commonly falls |
|---|---|
| Hired contractor damages your roof | Their liability policy, if it is current and its limit is sufficient. Your own claim may be possible but generally involves your deductible and your future premium. |
| Uninsured worker injured on your property | Potentially your liability coverage, and potentially you directly. This is the specific exposure that verifying workers' compensation removes. |
| Your tree falls on a neighbour's property in a storm | Commonly the neighbour's own policy, unless prior negligence — such as a documented warning about a dead tree — can be shown. |
| Removing a healthy tree because you want it gone | Ordinarily not an insured event at all. Removal by preference is maintenance, not damage. |
| Removing a fallen tree that damaged nothing | Frequently excluded or capped at a small amount. Many policies tie debris removal to covered damage having occurred. |
Every row above depends on the wording of a specific policy and on state law. Use them as the questions to put to your own insurer before work is scheduled — not as a statement of what your policy says.
Six questions, asked before the estimate
All six are answerable in a short phone call. The answers, not the price, are what distinguish two bids that look similar.
Subcontracted crews are common. The answer names a policy holder, and that name should match the certificate you were shown.
A specific figure. Compare it against what stands under the tree — the house, the garage, the vehicles.
These are the two most common exclusions and the two most common sources of a second invoice.
Some municipalities regulate removal of trees above a certain size, and work near lines requires the utility rather than the contractor.
The answer should be the contractor's liability policy. Any other answer is worth pursuing before work starts.
Not a quality judgement — an access question. It determines what equipment must reach the site and what is at risk on the way in.
Verified before signing, and verified by whom
The distinction is the whole method: a document handed over by the party it describes has not been verified.
Confirmed with the issuing body
- Insurance status confirmed by the agent or carrier named on the certificate.
- Licence status and complaint history from the state board's public lookup.
- Workers' compensation coverage from the state's verification service where one exists.
- Permit requirements from the municipality, not from the contractor.
Not evidence of anything
- A certificate photograph with no agent contact visible on it.
- A licence number printed on a vehicle, quoted rather than looked up.
- An assurance that the crew is "fully covered" without a document naming a policy.
- Reviews, years in business, or membership badges — none of which pay for a roof.
What backs each claim here
This page names no contractor and recommends none. Every claim is about document types and verification routes.
- State workers' compensation agencies. Source for coverage requirements and for the public verification services referenced above; requirements for small crews and sole proprietors differ by state.
- State contractor licensing boards. Source for licence lookup and complaint-history availability, and for the fact that tree work is regulated differently across jurisdictions.
- Standard insurance certificate practice. Source for the per-occurrence and aggregate limit structure, and for why confirmation is sought from the issuing agent.
Policy wording and licensing rules move, and neither is uniform across states. That is why the text above stays with document categories: the operative rule belongs to your own state and insurer.