A contractor’s license is automatically suspended by operation of law if the contractor fails to obtain and maintain a current and valid certificate of workers’ compensation insurance. (Bus. & Prof. Code § 7125.) The license may be reinstated retroactively if a certificate is obtained and filed within 90 days of the retroactive effective date of the new insurance. (Bus. & Prof. Code 7125.2.) After 90 days, however, retroactive reinstatement is available only if the licensee shows “that the failure to have a certificate on file was due to circumstances beyond the control of the licensee.” Here, the contractor’s workers comp. coverage was canceled when it refused to pay premiums that it correctly claimed were improperly inflated. While the contractor eventually won a favorable settlement with its insurer under which it obtained retroactive coverage, this decision holds that the license could not be reinstated retroactively since there had been a more than 90 day lapse in insurance coverage which was not due to circumstances beyond the contractor’s control. It could have obtained insurance from a different insurer or paid the overcharged premiums under protest and sued for a refund. Since the license could not be retroactively reinstated, Bus. & Prof. Code 7031 barred the contractor from enforcing its construction contracts and obtaining payment for work done during the period its license was suspended.