The hard part is rarely the theft. It is the uncertainty — you cannot find something, somebody was in the house, and you have no way to tell those two facts apart. Most people react to that discomfort by doing the one thing that makes it unrecoverable.
Do not accuse anybody yet
Not because you owe them the benefit of the doubt, though you probably do. Because an accusation you cannot support ends the conversation, and the conversation is where things usually get resolved. Once you have said the word, an innocent person becomes defensive and a guilty one becomes careful.
Items go missing constantly and almost never criminally. Things get moved during cleaning, put back in the wrong drawer, knocked behind furniture, or tidied into a box by somebody being helpful. That is not a reason to dismiss what you are feeling. It is a reason to spend twenty minutes before you spend your credibility.
The order that actually works
- Search once, properly. Where it lives, where it was last, the floor under and behind the nearest furniture, any bag or box that moved that day. Cleaners in particular relocate small objects as a matter of routine.
- Write down what you know while it is fresh. What the item is, when you last definitely saw it, who was in the house and between what times. You are not building a case. You are stopping your own memory rearranging itself over the next three days, which it will.
- Ask a neutral question. Message the person: "I cannot find my grandmother's ring since Tuesday — did you happen to move anything from the bedroom windowsill?" That is answerable by an innocent person without insult, and it is a normal thing to ask.
- Give it a day. A surprising share of these resolve here, either because it turns up or because you get a straight answer about where it was put.
- If it is genuinely gone, report it to the police. Before you post about it anywhere, before you demand anything. A report costs you nothing and it is the only step that matters if the item is valuable or insured.
- Then tell the platform, if you booked through one. With the report number. That is the difference between a complaint and a record.
Do not name somebody publicly on the strength of a suspicion. Local groups are fast and unforgiving, and an accusation against a person who does this for a living in a small area can take their income away in an afternoon. If you turn out to be wrong, you will not be able to put it back, and in some cases they can sue you for it.
What insurance actually covers
Most homeowners and renters policies cover theft from the home, including by someone you let in — but there is usually a deductible, and specific limits on jewellery, cash and collectibles that are far lower than people expect. Some policies require a police report before they will consider it, which is another reason to file one early rather than late.
Ring your insurer and ask two questions: what the sub-limit is for this category of item, and whether a claim would move your premium. For many missing items the honest answer is that claiming costs more than it recovers.
Prescription medication is a special case
Painkillers go missing far more often than jewellery, and people report it far less often because it feels smaller. It is not smaller. If prescription medication has gone, tell your pharmacy and your doctor — that record matters for the refill, and for anyone else this person works for.
Prevention, without turning your home into a vault
- Put small valuables and medication somewhere specific before anybody arrives. One drawer, always the same one. It removes the ambiguity that makes this situation unbearable.
- Know the name of who is turning up. On the bigger platforms the checked account belongs to a business and the person in your house may be an employee nobody mentioned. "Who is actually coming?" is one question, asked when you book.
- Book people who have something to lose locally. Somebody with a name, a face, a record of work in the same few streets and other people who will hear about it is in a completely different position from an anonymous account.
What we do and do not do about it
Honestly: we do not run background checks, so nothing on our side would have flagged someone with a record. We are less screened than Angi, Thumbtack or TaskRabbit and we say so in plain terms. What we do is make the person identifiable — real profiles, video of their actual work, a history attached to their name, and messages that stay on the platform rather than vanishing into a phone number.
That does not stop anything happening. It changes whether you know who you are talking about afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if I think a contractor stole from me?
Search thoroughly first, write down what you know while it is fresh, then ask a neutral question rather than making an accusation. If the item is genuinely gone, file a police report before you post anywhere or demand anything, and give the report number to the platform you booked through. An accusation without support usually ends the conversation that would have resolved it.
Does homeowners insurance cover theft by someone working in my house?
Usually yes, but with a deductible and with category sub-limits on jewellery, cash and collectibles that are often much lower than people expect. Many insurers also want a police report on file. Call and ask what the sub-limit is for that type of item before you decide whether claiming is worth it.
Should I post about it in my local Facebook group?
Not on a suspicion. A named accusation in a local group can end somebody’s income in an afternoon, it cannot be taken back, and if you are wrong it can expose you to a defamation claim. File the police report first and let that be the record.
How do I stop this happening again?
Put small valuables and prescription medication in one specific place before anyone arrives, ask for the name of the person actually turning up rather than just the company, and prefer people with a visible local history over anonymous accounts. None of it is about suspicion — it removes the ambiguity that makes the situation impossible to resolve.