I'm not sure what a good solution could be, just that I've seen enough examples of trying to research a potential partner where you get one story from a loose acquaintance and a totally opposite view if you are lucky enough to have a good friend willing to give you the real story.
No legal payout will counteract the lack of future business, and worst case for them they can hire someone to do the work for them on their own payroll.
https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/miami/profile/real-estate/bungalow...
Take a look at Bungalow Living. I had to file a claim against them and won. Their BBB profile is pretty accurate though it could be more so if it were an F.
Any metric will eventually be optimized for at the expense of product ownership.