"Let's face reality the quality of someone's work is based on his personal ethics, not the amount of gold foil paper on his wall."
I agree, that's true. But if someone is willing to subvert the law by operating without a license and risk their own freedom and livelyhood, how much more would they be willing to risk of yours? In essence, if they'll ignore the big rules what makes you think they'll follow any other rules that aren't convenient? If you are licensed and insured, your customer has a legal path to take if something goes bad.
