A cleaning business can be a lucrative startup venture. Households, businesses, and government agencies look for cleaning services and are willing to pay well for them. But before you start a cleaning-based business, make sure you understand the risks, including employee injury and property damage or theft.
Cleaning Business Insurance and Bonding
Business insurance for cleaners comes in two major parts, and each serves its own purpose. The first part is the liability insurance you see with most businesses. This liability insurance protects you if an employee or customer suffers injury or property damage in the course of conducting business.
But another important part of cleaning company insurance is bonding. When a cleaning company says it’s “licensed and bonded,” that means it holds a surety bond against claims of employee dishonesty. If you or your workers clean a house, only to have the homeowner claim something was missing, your surety bond coverage will kick in to cover damages.
What Is Covered By Cleaning Business Insurance?
The surety bond makes cleaning company insurance a little more complicated than other business types. You’ll likely need more than one policy to cover everything.
Business insurance for cleaners typically covers:
- Injury to your employees or clients
- Damage to client property
- Damage to commercial vehicles used for your business
- Employee theft of client property
- Damage to property owned by your business
Each policy will have its own limitations. Your general liability policy won’t, for instance, cover damage or theft of your own cleaning equipment and supplies. You’ll need to add coverage for that. Also, look at the upper limits of each policy to make sure you won’t be left paying a large chunk of the cost if you have an insurance claim.
Types of Cleaning Business Insurance
Running any business means facing an element of risk. But cleaning businesses face an enhanced risk for a variety of reasons:
- Employees are entering private residences
- Employees engage in strenuous activities
- Certain cleaning chemicals can cause health issues
- Wet floors create a slip-and-fall risk
For that reason, business insurance for cleaners typically means bundling policies. A business owners policy will pair general liability with property insurance coverage, but you’ll still need to add workers’ compensation, commercial auto, and business interruption insurance, as well as a janitorial bond.
Below are the various types of cleaning company insurance, with information on what they cover.
General Liability Insurance
Owning a business comes with some liability. If something happens involving one of your customers, your business could be held responsible. General liability business insurance for cleaners is designed to cover both your customers and their property against damage caused by you or your employees.
With general liability insurance, cleaning companies have protection if a customer slips and falls due to a wet floor or your employee accidentally damages that customer’s property. General liability insurance also helps protect you against legal claims of libel or slander.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Once you hire your first employee, you’ll need to look into whether it’s time to get workers’ compensation insurance. Required by law, workers’ compensation insurance covers lost wages, medical bills, and the cost to defend any legal action related to your employees being injured on the job.
Before buying business insurance for cleaners, look into your state’s requirements. The coverage you need will likely be based on your payroll dollars. By knowing the law, you can avoid buying more workers’ comp insurance than you need.
Commercial Auto Insurance
So far, the bond and insurance for cleaning business described here relates to what you need for your employees to enter buildings and interact with customers. What about the vehicle the worker uses to get to the worksite?
Commercial auto business insurance for cleaners will cover any harm caused to property or people by vehicles owned by your company. This coverage will help with any medical bills or repair costs when the person driving your company vehicle is at fault.
Umbrella Insurance
No matter how well you’re insured and bonded for cleaning business purposes, your coverage has limits. Umbrella insurance can kick in to take care of the rest. An umbrella insurance policy can cover legal costs, property damage, and medical bills not taken care of by your other policies.
Cleaning businesses can come with an element of risk. If your employees or customers have a high-dollar claim, it can quickly exceed your coverage limits. That’s why umbrella coverage is often an important part of business insurance for cleaners.
How Much Does Cleaning Business Insurance Cost?
The cost of business insurance for cleaners should be included in your estimated operating cost fairly early on. Some of your prospective clients will ask to see proof of insurance and bonds for your cleaning business, so you’ll at least need general liability insurance.
According to Insureon, the median general liability insurance cost for cleaners is $530 per year, which will run you less than $45 each month. But you can save money by bundling your general liability with your property insurance in a business owners policy, which Insureon estimates at costing only $520 per year, or $43 per month.
Where Can You Get Cleaning Business Insurance?
There’s no shortage of insurers offering cleaning business insurance, which makes finding the right provider a little challenging. Here are some top companies offering business insurance cleaning policies.
CNA
CNA offers commercial insurance policies that can be customized to fit business insurance for cleaners. You’ll find all the basic coverage types, including surety bonds, and CNA offers bundling discounts to help you save money.
One downside to CNA is that you’ll need to go through an agent to set up your policy. The company also has a large number of negative reviews relating to claim denials and unsatisfactory customer service.
Travelers
If you prefer a business insurer with an easy-to-use online portal, Travelers is a great option. You’ll have to go through an agent to get a quote, but once your policy is in place, you’ll have a handy dashboard for managing your policy and filing claims.
Although Travelers does have its fair share of online complaints, most relate to personal insurance. On the business side, you’ll find complaints about canceling coverage and difficulty reaching customer service. But overall, Travelers does have a higher customer satisfaction rating than average.
Gallagher
Gallagher offers business insurance for cleaners through third-party providers. You can request a quote, manage your policy, and file a claim through its website. Your policy is customized to your needs to ensure you don’t pay for extra coverage.
If you’re looking for insurance and bonding for cleaning business purposes, though, you’ll definitely need to compare quotes. Customers report higher prices through Gallagher than through some competitors.
Next
A fast, efficient quote process is what sets Next Insurance apart from competitors. You’ll simply choose the coverage you need, answer some questions, and wait for a quote. Once your policy is in place, you can manage everything through Next’s easy-to-use mobile app.
Next’s customer reviews are relatively positive, but there are some complaints. One commonly reported issue is unexpected premium increases once policies are in place. If you’re getting a commercial auto policy, you should also be aware that Next sources those policies through a third-party provider.
Nationwide
Businesses that prefer working with an agent might like Nationwide. You can request a quote online, but setting up and managing your policy requires an agent. Nationwide provides insurance and bonding for cleaning business owners, including some specialized coverage like equipment breakdown insurance.
There are complaints about Nationwide, though. Most negative reviews mention slow response times and increases in premiums. However, there are plenty of reviews reporting good customer service experiences.
Huckleberry
Huckleberry is another provider of business insurance for cleaners with an online process. You can sign up for your policy and manage it through the online portal. When you sign with Huckleberry, though, your policy is managed with third-party providers. The good news is that insurers tend to be established and reliable.
Customer reviews are better than average for Huckleberry, but there are some complaints about customer service. The biggest issue is that support is only available through chat, so if you prefer to make a phone call, Huckleberry might not be the best option for your cleaning business.
Hiscox
You can also get an online quote from Hiscox, an insurer that specializes in small business insurance policies. Requesting a quote and managing your policy online is easy, but like other online insurers, some coverage is outsourced to third parties.
One downside to Hiscox is that business owners policies are limited. Some coverage isn’t available in all 50 states, as well. Some online reviews praise their customer service, but you’ll find plenty of complaints about claims handling and poor communication.
Conclusion
Business insurance for cleaners requires a policy that covers a wide variety of risks. From theft to employee injury to client property damage, it’s important to make sure you have an insurer who knows your unique needs. By bundling multiple coverage types, you may be able to save money while also getting a policy you can manage in one place.
What does employers liability limits mean?
Employer liability limits refers to the limits you select when you’re taking out your workers’ compensation policy. The basic employer liability coverage is usually $100,000/$500,000/$100,000, which is $100,000 per accident, $500,000 per policy, and $100,000 per employee.
