Guide

Insurance for cleaners: what the policies are and what to check

Most cleaning businesses only think about insurance on the day somebody asks for a certificate — usually a property manager, before a first job, with the message already typed. This is what the policies are for and what is worth checking, so that day is not the first time you look.

The two policies that come up

Public liability covers damage you cause to somebody else's property or injury to a person while you are working — the spilled water that reaches a floorboard, the scratch on a benchtop, the trip over your own equipment. It is the one a building manager or a letting agent asks for, and the one a client means when they ask whether you are insured.

Professional indemnity is about advice or a service that causes a financial loss rather than physical damage. For cleaning it matters less often, but if you are being paid to advise on a maintenance programme or manage a site, an insurer may tell you it belongs in the same conversation.

What to check before you buy anything

Whether the policy covers cleaning as the trade, and whether it excludes anything you actually do — high-level work, working at height, cleaning products you supply, or jobs where nobody else is on site.
Whether it is a policy for a business or an extension to a household policy. The second is common and rarely covers commercial cleaning.
The excess on property damage, because a high excess can be more than the job was worth.
Whether a certificate can be issued in your trading name, and how quickly — because a property manager asking for one means this week.
What the insurer requires you to do: records, inductions, a written method for anything hazardous. Cheap policies often carry obligations nobody reads until a claim.

Questions worth asking directly

Tell them exactly what you do and where — domestic, commercial, end of lease, short-stay turnovers — and ask them to confirm in writing that all of it is covered. A general answer over the phone is not a covered scope.

Ask what would void the policy. Unattended work, a person who has not been inducted, a product not on their list, a subcontractor you did not name. Those are the things that turn a claim into a refusal.

And ask whether they will notify you before renewal, because a policy that lapses while you are busy is the same as having none. On this platform a listing disappears the day the certificate expires, which is a small demonstration of the principle: an insurance claim is only worth the currency of the certificate.

Questions people ask

Is insurance legally required to clean houses?

It varies by country and by who you are cleaning for, and I am not going to state a requirement I cannot verify for your jurisdiction. What is reliably true is that demand for it is commercial: property managers, letting agents and many commercial clients will not give a cleaner a key without a certificate, and it is the first thing a marketplace or platform of any kind asks to see. Check with your own regulator or an insurance broker rather than with a page like this one.

How much cover do I need?

The honest answer is that the number comes from the contracts you want, not from a general rule. Ask the property managers and sites you are trying to win what figure they require, then take the highest of those. Buying a large policy for jobs that do not ask for one is money spent on a certificate nobody reads.

Can I use the client's equipment and still be covered?

Usually, and the thing to check is what happens when it breaks. Liability for damage you cause with somebody else's vacuum or steam cleaner is exactly the kind of question that a policy schedules differently from most, so ask it specifically rather than assuming it is included.

House cleaning in Australia

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End of lease cleaning: what the check-out inspection actually looks at · What actually decides the price of an end of lease clean · Airbnb turnover cleaning: what a two-hour changeover actually needs · Getting your first ten cleaning clients without paying for advertising · How to price a cleaning job without undercharging · Reviews and complaints: the two things that decide your next ten jobs · Growing from one cleaner to a small team without losing the standard · A cleaning equipment checklist that pays for itself · Keeping cleaning business records that survive a tax review · Keeping the clients you have won · How much does a cleaner cost? What actually moves the number · How often should you clean your house? A schedule that holds · A cleaner or a cleaning company? What you are actually choosing

Practical advice rather than an inspection standard. The standard that matters is whatever your tenancy agreement and entry report say.

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