Asking for a certificate of insurance from a landscaper may not be common practice for homeowners, but Lisa Fiore, operations manager for Lake Bluff-based Don Fiore Company, suggests everyone do it.
Rooting out uninsured landscapers is part of a current campaign by the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association to reduce potential legal liability for customers and make the industry more competitive.
“I can count on one hand the number of residential customers who ask to see a certificate of insurance,” said Fiore, who is also the president of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association in addition to her duties at Fiore. “All my commercial accounts ask for it.”
A license is not required of a landscape contractor, according to Scott Grams, the association’s executive director. Workers compensation insurance ensuring injured employees are justly compensated is mandated by the State of Illinois.
Read the full story published by the Daily North Shore here.