When seeking roofing services, it is common to see the term “bonded and insured” on a contractor’s website or in their advertising; however, some roofers services might only advertise that they are insured, leaving out the term bonded.
Bonded roofing companies are definitely preferred over those that are not and in order to appreciate this fact, it is important to understand what bonding means about roofing contractors and other contractors as well.
What Is A Bonded Roofing Service?
Bonding is when a roofers service has paid a bonding company to hold a surety bond for that business.
A surety bond is like an insurance policy, but it protects the customers of roofing companies, not the companies themselves.
Surety bonds protect customers of roofing services against monetary loss due to damages caused by the contractor, for a roofing company’s failure to complete the contracted work as promised, or even if the work performed is unsatisfactory.
Surety bonds also protect customers when a contractor fails to pay subcontractors for work that is performed during a contracted roofing job.
How Does a Roofing Company Become Bonded?
To be bonded, roofing companies must pay a fee to a bonding agency in exchange for bonding certificates that they can show to their customers.
Before the certificates are provided, bonding agencies will typically research roofing services to gauge their business plan, reputation, financial statements, and more.
To confirm bonding, all any customer of a roofers service needs to do is request to see their current bonding certificate.
Why Is Bonding Important?
Bonding is important, as it provides customers with third-party protection for the work they are contracting from roofing services if something does not go as planned.
All a roofers services customer needs to do if there is some unresolved problem is contact the bonding agency to have it resolved.
Since this makes getting roofing work done less risky, it is recommended to work only with roofing companies that carry surety bonds.
It is another element of trustability that roofer services can present to their customers when demonstrating their good reputation in the community.
The Value of Surety Bonding
Surety bonding can cost the roofer quite a bit, meaning their services might be slightly higher than those of a non-bonded contractor.
A slightly higher fee is inexpensive insurance to pay for the guarantee that no matter what the future brings, the work will get done and get done correctly.
Before agreeing to let any roofing service handle repairs or a roofing replacement, home and building owners should always ask to see proof of bonding for their own protection!