If you ever need to hire a contracting company, you will need to know about contractor license bonds. Not knowing about these bonds can cost you a lot of money in shoddy or incomplete work by an incompetent work crew. So, it's best to look for a company that covers all their bases. All states require their contractors be bonded. These are a type of insurance, designed to protect you, the consumer. When you hire a company, it is required to purchase a license (also called surety) bond before beginning the work. It insures that your job will be completed as originally agreed between you and the person you hire. They also insure that the company follows all state and local licensing requirements. Without being required to purchase such insurance, unscrupulous contractors may take your money and spend it any way they please. You would then be left with substandard or perhaps no work completed. Your only recourse, in that situation, would be a lengthy court battle. Fortunately, this type has largely ended such a problem. The screening process for issuing the surety type bond varies from state to state. Generally, however, the company's credit is checked, making sure that it complies with certain credit standards. Its application also must be approved by the bonding company. There are many different types of surety types they can purchase. Some are just for a single job. Others are for many jobs combined into an aggregate limit. Which one your contractor purchases will depend upon what kind of job you need performed. There is one word of caution worth mentioning, however. Just because all contracting companies must have contractor license bonds does not mean that all will be bonded. Unfortunately, some of them do break the law. It is up to you, therefore, to make sure that the company is bonded before you allow it to do any work for you. Bondsi.com INC was formed to help building contractors get bonds done quickly, eliminating some of the day in day out hassles of contractors. (www.bondsi.com)
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