The short answer
Ask to see the insurance certificate rather than accepting a verbal claim. Get the work itemised rather than quoted as one number. Establish what happens if it goes wrong before it does. Never pay in full up front. And treat anyone who knocks on your door after severe weather as someone to verify independently rather than hire on the spot.
Ask for
The certificate, not a claim
Get
Itemised lines, not one number
Never
Full payment up front
After storms
Nobody legitimate knocks
Three kinds of quote
They arrive looking similar and mean different things.
Compare this
Itemised, with method
Separate lines for each part of the work, and a sentence about how it will be done. The only kind you can hold against another quote or against the finished job.
Ask again
One number, no detail
Might be complete, might exclude the expensive half. Ask specifically what it excludes before comparing it to anything.
Walk away
Doorstep, today only, cash preferred
Typically after storms. Price pressure, no verifiable business, and frequently uninsured — which means damage becomes your problem.
Why the insurance question matters most
On work at height, over a structure, or with machinery, a mistake can be expensive in a way the price difference never is. A limb through a roof, a ladder through a conservatory, a grinder through a gas line.
If the crew doing that isn’t covered, the claim may end up being yours. Ask to see the certificate rather than accepting an assurance — and note that the reaction to being asked tells you nearly as much as the document does. Companies that carry proper cover expect the question.
The payment structure
A deposit against materials is normal on anything that requires ordering. Paying the full amount before work starts is not, because it removes every incentive to come back and finish. On multi-visit work — bed bugs, rodent exclusion, tree work with a second trip — that matters more than usual, because the later visits are the ones that make it work.
The five questions
Same five, every trade, every time.
Can I see your insurance certificate?
Not “are you insured”. The document, covering the work being done. Reasonable companies have it to hand.
Can you itemise the quote?
Separate lines. It’s the only way to compare two quotes or to know what you didn’t buy.
What does this exclude?
Ask directly. Stumps, disposal, follow-up visits and fascia repair are the usual answers and the usual surprises.
What happens if it doesn’t work?
Return visit included, or a new call-out? Get it said before booking rather than discovered afterwards.
What’s the payment structure?
Deposit against materials is fine. Full payment before work starts is not.
Signals worth reading
Where this stops being a DIY job
Anyone door-knocking after severe weather. Legitimate firms are booked solid after storms rather than driving streets. Take a card, verify the business separately, call them yourself.
Any pressure to decide today. A price that expires is a sales technique rather than a discount.
Full payment before work starts. Whatever the trade, whatever the reason given.
What good companies do without being asked
Before
Ask about the site
What surrounds the tree, what’s overhead, what the fascia is like. Method follows from it.
During
Photograph what they find
Especially on work you can’t see. Offered rather than requested.
After
Say what still needs doing
Rather than declaring it solved. The honest ones name what remains.
Common questions
What should I ask a contractor before hiring?
To see the insurance certificate, for an itemised quote, what it excludes, what happens if the work fails, and what the payment structure is.
Should I hire someone who knocks on my door?
No. Legitimate companies are fully booked after storms rather than walking streets. Verify the business independently and call them yourself.
How much should I pay up front?
A deposit against materials is normal. Full payment before work starts isn’t — it removes any incentive to return and finish, which matters most on multi-visit work.
Is a cheaper quote always worse?
Not necessarily, but find out why. Usually it excludes something — disposal, the stump, follow-up visits — rather than being the same work for less.
Work at height, or over a structure?
These five questions cost nothing and they filter out most of what goes wrong in every trade covered here. Insurance matters most on anything where a mistake is expensive rather than inconvenient.
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