Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Pest Control Company

The licence and the state

The first question is the licence, and the second is which state's licence applies to the address.

The Mississippi licence is issued by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, and a Tennessee address is covered by Tennessee's licence. The company should say which applies. A company that answers without naming the state is not answering the question.

• Which licence do you hold for pest control, and what is its category?
• Which state's licence applies to the address I am giving you?
• Will the licence details appear on the written report?
• Who at your company checks that each technician holds the right credential?

The technician who arrives

The caller is entitled to know who will attend, and what credential that person holds.

Ask for the name of the technician or at least the credential they hold. A Certified Commercial Applicator card is a separate credential from the licence, and asking for both prevents the common mistake of treating them as one. The technician should be able to explain the work on arrival.

A caller can also ask whether the same technician will return for the follow-up. Continuity helps, because the technician who saw the first findings is the one best placed to check them.

The inspection and the written findings

A reputable company inspects first and writes up the findings before recommending a treatment.

Ask whether there is an inspection before any product is applied, and what it covers. The answer should name the areas inspected and the areas that cannot be reached. A company that proposes a treatment before it has looked at the building is asking the caller to pay for a guess.

The findings should be in writing: the pest, the location, the evidence and the recommended step. A caller who receives a verbal answer only should ask for the written version before agreeing to anything.

The quote and how it is set

A quote is set after the inspection and explained before work starts. A company that quotes before it has inspected is guessing, and a caller should not sign on the basis of a guess.

Ask how the price is decided and what it covers. A good answer names the inspection, the treatment, the follow-up and any repair that is separate from the pest work. The caller should be told what is included and what is not, in writing.

This site does not publish prices, because a number given before the inspection would be a guess. The quote is set on the site after the findings are explained.

The follow-up and the record

The work is not complete until the follow-up has confirmed the result, and the record is what a caller keeps.

Ask when the follow-up will happen, what it will check and whether there is a monitoring plan. Ask for the record to be kept in a form you can share with a landlord, a lender, an insurer or a buyer. The record should show what was found, what was done and what changed.

A company that does not offer a follow-up is leaving the caller to judge the result alone. That is a reason to ask a second question before the work begins.

Warning signs in the first call

The first call can show a good deal about how a company works, and a caller should listen for pressure, vagueness and a rush to treat.

A caller is entitled to take time. A reputable company will answer the questions, give a visit time and accept a request for a written record. A company that makes the caller feel rushed is giving a reason to ask the same questions of another company.

• A call that pushes for a visit or a treatment before any question about the pest has been asked
• A reply that names no licence and no state, and says it is a formality
• A promise that the problem will be gone after one visit, with no inspection or follow-up
• An offer that expires on the call, which gives no time to check the licence
• A reluctance to put the answer in writing

What a written agreement should say

A written agreement sets out the scope, the licence, the visits, the monitoring and the terms, and it is the document the caller keeps.

The agreement should name the property or the business, the state in which it stands and the licence that covers the work. It should list the visits and the monitoring points, state what the treatment covers and what it does not, and name the follow-up date. It should say how the caller can end the agreement and what happens to the record at the end.

A caller should read the terms before signing. A clause that limits the company's liability or that requires the caller to accept changes without notice is worth asking about, and the caller can request a change in writing before the work begins.

Who is paid for what, and when

A caller should know what is paid for the inspection, what is paid for the treatment, and what is paid for a repair that the pest work does not include.

A household that pays for a treatment and then finds that the repair of a damaged sill is a separate job may feel the work was incomplete. The answer is to ask at the start which items are included and which are not. The repair is normally carried out by a carpenter or a contractor chosen by the household, and the report lists the damaged wood by location so the repair can be quoted.

This site does not give prices. The quote is set after the inspection and explained before work starts, and the caller is asked to approve it in writing. The payment schedule should be stated in the agreement, including any deposit.

When to change companies

A caller may reasonably change companies, and the reason does not need to be a dispute over the bill.

A change is reasonable if the licence cannot be confirmed, the technician does not attend, the findings are not written up, or the follow-up does not happen. It is also reasonable if the caller no longer trusts the answers given. The caller should ask the first company for the records and the licence details, so the next company can read them.

A household that changes companies should keep the reports, the photographs and the agreement. The new company is given the file, and the history is not lost in the change.

Questions about the treatment itself

Ask what product or method is proposed, why it was chosen for the pest and the place, and what precautions it needs, before the work starts.

A caller should ask what the treatment is, what it is for, which area it covers and what it does not reach. A good answer names the pest and the location, and explains why a gel, a bait, a spray or a wood treatment was chosen. It also names the time the household should keep out of the room, and the steps for pets and children.

The caller should ask for the safety information for any product in writing, and should check whether the household needs to ventilate, cover food or remove anything from the room. A technician who answers those questions plainly is one who is likely to explain the rest of the work well.

Questions about the follow-up and the guarantee

A follow-up and any guarantee should be described in writing, with the conditions attached, so the household knows what is promised and what is not.

Ask what the guarantee covers and for how long, and whether it is conditional on the household carrying out the changes in the report. A guarantee of a pest result is a claim about the work, and it should be stated in the agreement with its conditions. A company that describes a guarantee only in conversation has not given the caller something to rely on.

Ask also what happens if the pest returns between visits. The answer should say how the household reports it, how quickly a technician attends and whether the follow-up is brought forward. A caller who has that answer in writing is in a much stronger position than one who has been told it will be all right.

Questions about insurance and the crew

A caller can ask whether the company carries its own liability insurance, and ask to see a certificate, without assuming what the answer will be.

Ask whether the company carries liability insurance for its work at a home or a business, and ask for a certificate that names the company. A certificate is a document a company can show, and a refusal to show one is a fair reason to pause. This site does not confirm any insurance held by any company, and the caller should check the certificate directly with the insurer named on it.

Ask also whether the technicians who will attend are employees of the company or are engaged separately, because that affects who is responsible for the work and who is named on the paperwork. The answer should be given plainly, and it should be written into the agreement.