Is Angi Legit & Safe To Use?

Considering Angi? Discover essential knowledge about dangerous scams, their Happiness Guarantee, and important tips to stay safe!

Angi Making Money Home & Family

By Corbin HartwickUpdated on July 25, 2024

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Before using Angi to search for home improvement help as a homeowner (or advertise your home services business as a contractor), you’ll want to know whether it’s legitimate and safe or not. To make that determination, it’s useful to keep in mind how Angi’s business model has changed over the years.

Angi.com started as a paid-membership-only information and review directory of local home services contractors. Now, it’s a freemium service that also allows homeowners and contractors to actually connect and communicate towards getting jobs done. In that sense, it’s currently like a slightly more sophisticated and specialized classified advertising platform.

That is to say there are some things Angi does to make arranging home service jobs easier, and protect homeowners (and sometimes contractors) going into these arrangements. But there are some things homeowners and contractors will have to work out without Angi’s intervention, and that’s where safety issues tend to arise. This article will explain what protections Angi offers, and what both homeowners and contractors can do when using Angi to prevent scams and other problems from happening.

Is Angi safe & a legitimate website for homeowners?

Angi is safe for homeowners looking to hire home improvement help. It runs background checks on contractors who post profiles on the system, and has further requirements for them paying for advertising. It also covers homeowners with the Angi Guarantee if something goes wrong with their project.

Note that while Angi can protect you when you book and pay for home services through its system, there are points where you will have to negotiate details of a project directly with the contractor. These are where scams tend to happen, since Angi isn’t as closely involved in the process. You will have to exercise a bit of your own due diligence and caution to keep from being taken advantage of.

The same is true for contractors dealing with potential client homeowners. While Angi has some safeguards for contractors against phony leads, contractors still need to be aware that scams can happen during negotiations and know how to avoid them.

How does Angi conduct background checks?

Angi conducts background checks on every contractor who signs up to advertise with them. This includes verifying their personal and/or corporate information, as well as checking it against county, state, and federal offense databases through at least the past seven years.

Angi conducts these checks at the time a contractor signs up for the platform. Also, any time Angi considers concerns about a contractor that are brought to its attention valid, it will conduct a background check on that contractor. If a contractor fails a background check, neither their profile nor their advertisements will appear anywhere on Angi.

Important

If a contractor signs up for a corporate account (rather than an individual one) on Angi, then only that business’s owner, principal, or relevant manager needs to pass a background check. Such contractors will be identified as Corporate Accounts on their profiles. Though the business may conduct its own internal background checks on its employees, Angi can’t guarantee that all employees sent to work on jobs booked by users will have passed a background check.

Angi recommends that you do your own research into corporate contractors on its platform, including asking what their policies are regarding performing background checks on their own employees.

Angi Happiness Guarantee: how homeowners are protected

One of the general protections for homeowners Angi has is the Happiness Guarantee. It allows homeowners to have jobs booked through Angi refunded – or even fixed or redone – if the work isn’t done up to standard, or even if the contractor causes damage to their home.

What is Angi’s Happiness Guarantee?

The Angi Happiness Guarantee is a limited insurance policy that covers homeowners in the event a contractor’s work on their home is unsatisfactory. It allows homeowners to have the work fixed or redone by either the same contractor or a different one, or else receive a refund as compensation.

How does it protect you?

The Happiness Guarantee from Angi covers you if you book and pay for a home improvement service through Angi, and the job is not done up to your standards (including, in certain cases, if damage is caused to your property). If your case is eligible, and if Angi deems it valid, Angi will provide you with one of two solutions. It will either have a contractor (which could be the same one you hired, or a different one) fix or completely redo the job, or it will issue a refund. The refund will be worth either the amount you paid for the job, or the value of damage provably caused directly by the contractor (whichever is greater).

The maximum amount of the refund depends on what type of booking was made. For instant bookings with fixed prices, the refund will not exceed $2500. For bookings where the pricing is negotiated later, the maximum refund is $50,000.

There are other limitations to the guarantee, including how long you have to file a claim – again, depending on the type of booking you made – before you become ineligible for the guarantee. See the Happiness Guarantee terms and conditions for more information.

Is Angi safe & legit for contractors?

Angi is a legitimate advertising and lead generation platform for home improvement contractors looking for work. However, there is debate over whether it’s the most efficient one. Some have accused Angi of being a “scam” because they feel Angi’s policies towards contractors aren’t very fair.

Some of the most common complaints against Angi from contractors include the following:

If you sign up for a free Angi Pro account, Angi’s marketing team is allegedly very aggressive in trying to get you to subscribe to Angi Ads and/or Angi Leads (which are paid services).
An Angi Ads subscription comes with a 1-year contractual obligation, and incurs a 35% penalty fee if you cancel early.
An Angi Ads subscription costs $200-$300 per year, and then extra money on top of that if you want Angi to advertise or generate leads for you. Some feel this is necessary to get premium search exposure and win jobs.
Leads for jobs on Angi can be fairly pricey (typically in the $15-$85 range), and you are generally charged for each one you receive whether or not the homeowner hires you (or anyone) for the job.
Angi no longer requires homeowners to pay to use it, which some contractors feel results in a lot of low-quality leads from people who aren’t committed to having work done (or even from scammers or robots).
Each lead you receive from Angi is typically sent to at least 3 other contractors in nearby areas and lines of work, which some contractors feel creates artificial competition that forces them to lower their prices.

The bottom line is that you need to evaluate whether Angi is right for you personally – and this will vary greatly depending on precisely which services you offer, and where you are located. If you’re on the fence about whether Angi is the best option, review our comparison of Angi vs. Thumbtack to see which one might be a better fit, or check out our guide to Thumbtack for Pros to see if it might be the better option for you.

8 tips on how to use Angi effectively as a contractor

Given the above information, is Angi a scam for contractors? Not necessarily – or at least not in the strictest sense of the word. Some contractors have found that, with the right amount of research and work, using Angi can be totally worth it for them. Here are some common tips that they offer.

Research Angi’s paid contractor plans to understand what they cost and offer relative to what you need. Picking the right plan is one way to control how much Angi will take out of your advertising budget.
Fill out your business profile with as much information as you can. The more you share about the specific services you offer and who you’re looking for in terms of customers, the greater the chance that you’ll get high-quality leads from homeowners who have a solid idea of what they want.
Whenever you get a lead, reach out as quickly as possible (ideally within 5 minutes); first impressions are extremely important. Maintain communication through multiple channels (e.g. text, email, and phone). Be persistent without being pushy; spread your contact out across channels and across a series of days.
There are some situations in which you can get a refund for a bogus lead from Angi applied to your account to use towards a future lead. For more information, see these Angi articles on how to request lead credits and the guidelines for doing so.
Have a follow-up strategy in place for when a lead does convert to a job. Thank them for their business, and ask them for reviews and referrals. Respond publicly and professionally to reviews (even the negative ones) so other prospective customers can see that you’re attentive to homeowner needs. Engage your customers so they’ll want to hire you again.
Measure how successful your investment in Angi is per month. How much have you spent? How many leads did you get? How many of those leads converted to jobs, or at least contacts? How much money did you make? This will give you an idea of what you need to change (lead pacing, client communication speed/frequency, seasonal strategy, etc.) and – ultimately – whether Angi’s paid services are worth it for you.
If you’re getting more leads than you can handle, or too often not getting the right kinds of leads, there are some ways you can manage that. You can adjust your service offerings and/or service area (or temporarily set your profile to “busy”, which automatically reduces both of these things), or lower your spending target. You can also pause your leads if they aren’t useful or affordable for you at some point, then resume receiving them later.
Angi should only be one part of your marketing strategy. You should also have a search-optimized website that explains your value proposition, highlights your successes, and calls prospective customers to action. You can also create accounts on other services that host business profiles and reviews – such as Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, the Better Business Bureau, and even some Angi alternatives – and ask people to review your business there. This doesn’t just give your business more exposure; it also gives prospective customers more places to search for information about you when they’re deciding if you’re right for their job.

Top 6 Angi scams to watch out for when using the site

While it hopefully won’t happen, you may encounter a contractor who offers you a deal on a job that seems too good to be true. More often than not, it is. We know home improvement can be expensive, but don’t end up overpaying – or getting less than what you paid for – by falling for one of these common tactics.

1. “Model home” builder

A contractor may offer to do a job for a low price, in a short timeframe, or both because they are looking to use your home as a “model” to show off their work to other prospective clients. However, they will often take shortcuts with their work. So the finished product may look great, but it will usually have functional issues that will lead to problems over time (such as mold in bathrooms caused by improper drainage and ventilation).

2. Leftover materials

A contractor may offer a steep discount on a job because they claim to have materials leftover from another job. This is a red flag, as it can sometimes mean the contractor will only work with whatever materials were leftover. This often leads to work that’s poor and/or full of shortcuts, unfinished, or both. Other times, the contractor will charge you a price higher than what they initially stated, or even just take the money and run.

3. “Free” home inspection

As part of a job, a contractor may offer to throw in a free home inspection. Or, while the job is in progress, they may voluntarily start pointing out problems with your house caused by either previous shoddy work or the wear and tear of time. Then they offer to fix those problems on top of the work they’re already doing if you pay them for it, or even threaten to walk away from the current project if you don’t let them make those fixes.

In many cases, however, these problems aren’t as big of a deal as the contractor makes them out to be – if they’re even problems at all. Some may even be caused by the contractor deliberately doing poor-quality work, or even intentionally damaging your home when you aren’t watching them.

4. Third-party financier

If you need financing for a project, the contractor may recommend borrowing from someone they know who allegedly specializes in home renovation loans. They promise they can get you a low-interest deal, but only if you act quickly.

This is a major red flag for several reasons. One is that the financier may give (some of) the interest you pay on the loan to the contractor as a kickback, so the contractor has little incentive to work on the project. Another is that the loan agreement may stipulate unfair terms, like the low interest rate lasts only for a very short time. It could even state that the deed to your home is put under lien as collateral (i.e. a home equity loan).

If you need financing for your project, Angi offers pay-over-time financing through Affirm.

5. Fake disaster relief

This scam particularly affects homeowners who live in geographic areas prone to natural disasters (such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and floods). A contractor may offer to fix damage to your home at a discounted rate, as a sign of humanitarianism. However, they ask you to pay them by making them the beneficiary of a homeowner’s insurance claim.

Like with third-party financing, this can allow the contractor to bypass having money withheld until they complete certain milestones in the project. So they have little incentive to finish the project, do quality work, or even do the job at all.

6. Bait and switch

A contractor may promise a certain price and/or quality of work upfront, but then charge hidden fees and/or swap their materials out for cheaper alternatives. So you end up with a project that isn’t done as professionally as you expected, and/or costs significantly more than you budgeted for.

6 safety tips for homeowners hiring through Angi

The scams listed above can be avoided by exercising some due diligence and caution. Most legitimate contractors will understand why you’re doing these things, and are okay with taking a little extra time so things get set up properly. Scammers, on the other hand, will often be evasive or just hit the road altogether if you try to ensure they’re held accountable.

Here are six things you can do to sort out the pros from the con artists on Angi:

Though many contractors on Angi have already passed background checks, it still doesn’t hurt to do your homework. Check that a contractor is registered, licensed, insured, etc. with the proper government bodies and regulatory agencies. Angi provides tools and resources that allow you to check a business’s state licensing status.
Check the contractor’s reputation. Look for reviews online (both on Angi and on other trusted websites) to see what others have to say about them. Better yet: ask the contractor to provide references from people or businesses that were satisfied with their work. Even better: if someone you know and trust might know the contractor, ask them to tell you what they know about their business.
Don’t let yourself be rushed into accepting a limited-time offer. Take your time and get quotes from a few different contractors. This will give you a general idea of what you should expect to pay in your area for the kind of work you want done. It would also be good to check Angi’s Project Cost Center for further information. This helps you avoid being lowballed by a contractor attempting a scam, or highballed by a contractor looking to take advantage of you.
Never agree to a “handshake deal”; get things in writing. Have the contractor draw up a legally-binding contract for the job, as well as a written estimate of how much everything in the project will cost (if the contract doesn’t include this). Also be sure to read the contract carefully to see that it contains things like the contractor’s ID and contact information, the estimated start and finish dates, the scope of the project, materials needed, warranties, payment terms, and work schedule. If you have concerns, consider hiring a lawyer to make revisions.
Never agree to a job where a contractor asks you to secure and pay for the necessary building permits before they start. In most cases, this is the contractor’s responsibility, not yours.
Be mindful of how and when you pay a contractor for their work. Scam contractors may ask for a deposit that exceeds state consumer protection agency limits, or even for you to pay in full upfront. They may also ask to be paid in ways that are difficult to trace or reverse, such as with cash, prepaid cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. Or they may ask to be paid through third parties such as insurance companies or lenders, which can allow them to avoid accountability. Insist on working with a contractor who charges a reasonable deposit, and who sets out a payment schedule so they don’t get paid in full until the project is done to your satisfaction.

6 safety tips for contractors & pros

The most common scam targeting contractors on Angi is a “homeowner” claiming that they live out of town but need work done on a property they manage. They will insist on paying the contractor in advance with a check. However, when the contractor gets to the property, they find it inaccessible because it’s either listed for sale or abandoned. Since no work can be done, they send a refund back to the “homeowner”, who then stops all communication with the contractor. Later, the contractor finds out the check they received was fake, and they’ve given away their money to a scammer.

There are a number of things you can do as a contractor to avoid being roped into this kind of scam.

Do your own independent research into the property – including visiting it in person, if necessary – before providing a quote for work on it. This allows you to not only give a better estimate of the project’s scope, but also to check if the project is potentially a scam because the property is for sale or even vacant.
If you work for a corporate contractor, research who the property’s manager (or listing agent) is and talk to them, along with your own company’s higher-ups. You want to confirm two things: that work has been requested on the property, and that your company has submitted a quote for that work.
Insist on talking with the property manager or listing agent over the phone or through video call at least once. Scammers like to communicate through emails or text messages because they think these methods provide fewer clues that they’re being dishonest (and reinforce their narrative that they’re “out of town” and can’t meet with you in person). Even when talking over the phone or video call, ask specific questions about the property and see if you can pick up on oddities in how the other person looks, sounds, behaves, or answers.
Never accept payment in advance. Be especially suspicious if a homeowner pays you more than the quoted project price while instructing you to send them back the leftover money, or to use it to pay other contractors working on the project. This is usually a sign that their payment is fake.
If you are paid with a check, inspect it carefully for signs it might be fake. These include a mismatch between the check numbers at the top and bottom, flimsy/suspicious card stock, incorrect/missing bank routing number, missing MICR number, spelling mistakes in a name/address, and so on. Perhaps also look up the name, address, and phone number on the check to see if they all line up with the same person or company.
Spell out your refund policies clearly. Specify that you won’t offer refunds through difficult-to-reverse payment methods, such as wire transfers, cash, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Declare that, to protect yourself from scams, you will only refund payments made by check with another check.

How to report someone on Angi

If you have concerns regarding a contractor or homeowner on Angi trying to scam you or otherwise mistreat you, Angi’s team wants to know about it so they can investigate and keep bad actors off their platform. To report a concern:

Go to the Angi Services Help Center.
Click the speech bubble in the lower-right corner to open the chat interface with the Angi Digital Assistant.
If your problem happened after you had already booked the contractor, click Report a Booking Issue.
Otherwise, click Something Else.
If you’re reporting an issue post-booking, choose one of the options that appears (or Other Booking Issue if none of the other options apply).
Otherwise, click Other in the menu that appears.
You will be put in touch with an Angi customer support specialist, but first you need to fill in some information. Click the message that says Please Fill In Your Details.
Here, you will be asked to fill out a series of fields, including your first name, last name, email address, phone number, a booking ID number (if your issue relates to a specific booking), and then a brief description of the problem.
Click in each field, type in the requested information, and then click Next to go on to the next field. Repeat until you reach the last field, where you should click Submit instead.
After you’re connected with someone from Angi’s customer support team, you can correspond with them through the chat window to explain your issue in further detail and work out how it will be resolved.

You can also report something to Angi via these contact methods:

Homeowners: email “homeowner@angi.com” or phone 1-888-811-ANGI (2644)
Contractors: email “prosupport@angi.com” or phone 1-888-819-ANGI (2644)

If you require further assistance with an issue, review our guide on how to contact Angi customer service – including their phone number, as well as other methods that actually work.

That’s our look at how safe and legitimate Angi is, both in what it does to protect its users and what users should do to protect themselves. For a broader view of Angi’s pros and cons, read our Angi review. It would also be a good idea to check out the rest of our guides about how to use Angi to get a broader understanding of what the home improvement marketplace is all about.