How to Check a Tree Company on Long Island

When a tree job goes wrong, with a limb through the neighbor’s porch or a worker hurt in your yard, the question of who pays comes down to paperwork. Four checks cover most of it: the county license, the arborist’s number if there is one, the insurance, and the contract.

Look up the county license

Both Long Island counties license tree companies as home improvement contractors.

Nassau: the Office of Consumer Affairs lists “tree surgery” among the work that needs a home improvement license. Search the company name or license number in the Nassau County license lookup.
Suffolk: the County Code definition of home improvement, as quoted by a state court in 2013, includes “tree pruners, tree stump removers and all other tree services.” Use Search Licensed Contractors or call Suffolk Consumer Affairs at 631-853-4600.

Make sure the name on the license matches the name on the truck and the estimate. The Town of Huntington’s permit application asks for the company’s Suffolk County home improvement license number, so a company without one may not be able to get your permit.

Verify the arborist, if they say they have one

ISA certification belongs to a person, not a company. Ask for the arborist’s full name and certification number and search it in ISA’s Find an Arborist directory. ISA says to search by name or ID, because the search by area only shows people who added their location. The arborist page explains what the credential means.

Confirm insurance with the insurer

A certificate handed to you can be out of date. ISA’s advice is to ask for proof of insurance and then call the insurance company to confirm it. Ask about two policies:

Liability, which pays if the crew damages your house, your car or a neighbor’s property.
Workers’ compensation, which covers the crew if someone is hurt on your property. Look the company up in the Workers’ Compensation Board’s free Does Employer Have Coverage? search. The Board says a sole proprietor with no employees does not need it, so a one-person company may legitimately have none.

The Town of Huntington’s form spells out who carries this burden: making sure the company is insured is the applicant’s job, and the town does not verify it.

Get the contract in writing

The New York Attorney General’s home improvement fact sheet covers jobs over $500. It says the contract must be in writing, in plain English, and handed to you before work starts. It should include:

the company’s name, address and phone number
approximate start and finish dates
a specific description of the work, which for a tree job means which trees, the stump, and the cleanup
the price

You can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, in writing. Money paid before the job is substantially done has to go into an escrow account in a New York bank within five business days, and the company has to tell you where within ten, unless it posts a bond instead. The Attorney General’s advice: never pay the full price up front, and hold the final payment until the work is finished.

Red flags

Door-to-door bargains. ISA’s hiring brochure tells homeowners to be careful with people who come to the door offering a deal.
An offer to top the tree. Cutting a tree back to stubs is a practice ISA calls harmful. See tree trimming for what a proper trim looks like.
No license number, or a number that belongs to a different business name.
Cash only, all up front.
No answer on who pulls the permit, when your town or village requires one.
The lowest bid with the least detail. ISA says not to take the lowest bid automatically, and to compare credentials and written specifications.

The three lines on our company cards

Every company card on this site has three lines: county license, ISA Certified Arborist, and insurance. A line says “checked” only after the license or certification turned up on the issuing body’s public lookup, or the insurance certificate was confirmed. Until then it says “not checked yet,” which means exactly that and nothing worse. As of October 2026 none of the companies listed has been checked yet, so run these lookups yourself before you sign.

Jobs people price together

Stump grinding

Long Island Best Tree Service says stump grinding is not part of a standard removal quote unless the quote says so, and Long Island Tree Pros takes 15 to 20 percent off stump work booked with the removal.

Add quotes for stump grinding Read about stump grinding

Tree trimming or pruning

While the crew and the chipper are already in the driveway, have them take the dead wood out of the trees you are keeping.

Add quotes for tree trimming or pruning Read about tree trimming or pruning

Lot or land clearing

Taking several trees out to open up a yard or a building lot is priced as a clearing job, so ask for that price instead of adding up single trees.

Add quotes for lot or land clearing

Checking a tree company, answered

Do tree companies need a license on Long Island?

Yes. The Nassau County Office of Consumer Affairs lists tree surgery among the trades that need its home improvement license, and the Suffolk County Code definition covers tree pruners, tree stump removers and all other tree services.

How do I check if a tree company is insured?

Ask for the certificate, then call the insurance company on it to confirm the policy is active, as the International Society of Arboriculture advises. For workers' compensation, the New York State Workers' Compensation Board has a free Does Employer Have Coverage? search.

How much of a deposit should a tree company get?

The New York Attorney General's advice is never to pay the full price up front and to hold the final payment until the work is done. Money paid before the job is substantially finished has to go into an escrow account in a New York bank within five business days, unless the contractor posts a bond.

Can I cancel a tree service contract?

Under New York's home improvement law, as the Attorney General summarizes it, you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, in writing.

Why does the town not check the company's insurance?

The Town of Huntington's tree permit form says so in plain words. Confirming the company is properly insured is the applicant's responsibility, and the town does not verify it.