General Liability Insurance for a Cleaning Business: The Basics

 

As a contractor, your business does a lot of things –  cleaning the windows on high-rise buildings, pressure washing homes and offices, exterminating pests and mold, or help with debris cleanup. Regardless of what type of cleaning you do, though, it all falls under the same broad category. This means you’ll need to start by asking the insurance company to purchase liability insurance for a cleaning business – particularly general liability insurance and professional liability insurance.

 

 

So, what is general liability insurance ?

 

 

Essentially, it’s a cleaning business insurance coverage type that covers liability for third party personal injuries and property damage. Notice the word third-party and put in mind general liability insurance claims from clients, visitors, and entities or individuals who are not part of your business’s organizational structure.

 

 

Your cleaning business faces a lot of exposures. Here are some situations where general liability insurance will be absolutely useful:

 

• You were hired by an apartment owner to do a full-blown cleaning. While taking out furniture, an employee who was carrying a TV tripped and fell on the ladder. As a result, the expensive TV had it’s screen terribly broken
• The said apartment owner checked as you were cleaning the apartment. It so happens that the floor is wet. As he scanned the place, the apartment owner slipped and fell on the floor, sustaining a minor hip fracture as a result.

 

 

General liability insurance for cleaning businesses can be added with products and completed operations coverage and advertising injury coverage.

 

 

If you add it with products and completed operations coverage, general liability can cover costs if customers state that your cleaning service caused injuries or property damage after it was completed.

 

 

On the other hand, advertising injury coverage will help solve marketing issues. Say, for instance, you made an ad that unintentionally copied another business’s ad. And then, the other business sued you for copyright infringement. In such a case, general liability with advertising injury coverage will pay for lawyer fees, legal costs, and settlements.

How Much General Liability Insurance Do I Need if I’m Involved in the Cleaning of Water Treatment Plants?

Your cleaning business will need a $1 million-$2 million general liability insurance to work with water treatment plants.

 

Workplace Mistakes Can be Very Problematic, Get Professional Liability Insurance

 

Personal injuries and property damage aren’t the only reasons why customers might file a claim against your cleaning business. If employees made a mistake that resulted in economic or financial losses, then your client might demand compensation too.

 

 

General liability insurance doesn’t take care of oversights. That’s why it’s smart to get professional liability insurance too.

 

 

This type of business insurance for cleaning takes care of claims a client filed because your business committed the following:

 

• Negligence – An newbie employee accidentally mixed bleach with ammonia and forgot to rinse the property well. The property’s occupants got severely sick after coming back. The property owner then filed a claim against you and demanded you reimburse what he spent to have the occupants treated
• Misrepresentation – The client hired your business because it was stated in the ad that you provide a particular cleaning service. However, when the time came for the client’s property to be cleaned, it turned out that the cleaning service wanted doesn’t exist at all
• Violation of good faith – Event organizers hired your cleaning business to clean a sports facility. It was stated in the contract that the cleaning should be finished by Friday. However, delays happened and you failed to follow your end of the deal. As a result, the event organizer’s activity had to be postponed and losses were incurred. Said event organizers then filed a claim and asked you to reimburse their loss
• Inaccurate advice – You’re a cleaning business specializing in animal waste disposal. A newbie cleaning business asked your advice for their cleaning project in a horse farm. Days after you met them, the representatives of the other cleaning business filed a claim because the tip you gave did more harm than good

 

 

Professional liability insurance comes in two forms – claims-made and occurrence. Claims made professional liability insurance only takes care of claims made at the time a covered peril was committed. On the other hand, occurrence professional liability insurance covers claims filed during its validity. In other words, you can get insurance money even if the policy has long expired.

 

 

How Much General Liability and Professional Liability Do You Need?

 

To be protected, your cleaning business needs to get $1 million general liability insurance and professional liability insurance.

 

 

However, understand that claims can cost more than $1 million. And so, you have the best protection against liabilities if your professional liability and general liability insurance offers $2 million in coverage.

 

 

What if you already bought a $1 million general liability and professional liability insurance? Is there a way for you to extend the limits of your policy? Yes, there is. However, we won’t call this method extending but more like supplementing the limits of general liability and professional liability insurance.

 

 

If you are afraid of capping the limits of general liability and professional liability earlier than expected, then get excess liability insurance. Excess liability, as the name implies, pays for the remaining costs general liability insurance or professional liability insurance can’t shoulder. Here’s an example so that you understand:

 

• An elderly client experienced a slip and fall accident because of your cleaning service. The injury she incurred was a severe fracture on the hips. She demands you pay $1.5 million for pain, suffering, and punitive damages. You lost the case and claimed your general liability coverage amounting to $1 million. There’s still $500,000 left to pay. Luckily, you have $1 million excess liability insurance and the carrier shouldered the remaining cost using this.

 

 

Other Policies Your Cleaning Business Need

 

Having general liability and professional liability already provides wonderful protection – from third-party claims, that is. Recognize that other exposures are out there still such as:

 

• Business property damage
• Employee lawsuits
• Workplace injuries
• Workplace crimes

 

 

It’s highly recommended that you get other business insurance policies. For cleaning businesses, the most useful ones are:

 

• Workers compensation insurance
• Employer’s liability insurance
• Cyber Insurance
• Employee Dishonesty Insurance
• Commercial property insurance

 

 

Workers Compensation Insurance

 

Cleaning isn’t an easy job. Each project exposes your employees to numerous perils. Common exposures employees have to face are:

 

• Pathogens – Cleaners are always exposed to pathogens while working. As a result, they might contract a disease in the long run
• Chemical hazards – Cleaners use a variety of chemicals to make a property spotless. Continuous exposure to these chemicals can result in lung problems and other related illnesses
• Confined spaces – Confined spaces force cleaners to commit awkward bodily positions. If done continuously, this can result in musculoskeletal disorders. There’s also the risk of touching live electrical wires
• Slip and falls – Cleaners usually deal with wet environments. Therefore, slip and fall accidents can easily happen

 

 

In the event that an employee gets sick or injured,  your business will have to cover medical expenses as well as reimburse lost income. Paying for these will strain financial reserves heavily.

 

 

Having workers compensation insurance will surely help. This insurance covers emergency treatment, hospital bills, medication, and after-hospital visits. With workers comp, you can also give the employee an unemployment allowance that amounts to a portion of his or her average weekly wage.

 

 

Your business can’t run without employees. Therefore, choosing not to get workers compensation insurance is impossible. This is a state-mandated coverage except if you’re doing business in Texas. Each state has imposed penalties on businesses discovered not having workers comp insurance. For example, if you’re a cleaning business in Arizona that doesn’t have workers comp insurance,  authorities will demand you pay $10,000 or more.

 

 

Sometimes, carriers might reject workers comp coverage. And this is still not an excuse not to have the insurance required. So what do you do if you need to buy workers comp to comply with the law but no carrier is willing to provide coverage? Qualify for a state risk pool. A risk pool is a state insurance fund that you can use as workers comp insurance. Ask the authorities of the jurisdiction where you’re in to know what needs to be done to qualify.

 

 

Employer’s Liability Insurance

 

After experiencing a work-related injury, an employee might file a claim and state that you failed to provide a safe workplace environment. Employer’s liability insurance will cover if something like this happens.

 

 

 

Employer’s liability insurance provides $1 million – $2 million you can use to pay for attorney fees, other legal costs, and settlements.

 

 

Note that this policy doesn’t cover claims made because of sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and other related causes. If you want to get covered against these, decide to get employment practices liability insurance.

 

 

Cyber Liability  Insurance

 

If your business is using a digitalized system to find leads and collect payments from customers, then consider getting cyber liability insurance. If your system gets breached and credit card information, phone numbers, addresses, and other sensitive information got leaked, then cyber liability insurance can pay attorney fees and compensatory payments.

 

 

Employee Dishonesty Insurance

 

Employees can steal from you or vandalize equipment and materials. You’ll incur losses if this happens. Employee dishonesty insurance reimburses your losses if an employee commits theft, vandalism, social engineering, and other covered perils.

 

 

Commercial Property Insurance

 

Your commercial building and what’s inside are valuable assets that your cleaning business needs to continue running. And so, it’s important to insure them using commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance provides money if the commercial building got damaged or totaled because of fire, vandalism, riot, and other covered perils except floods and earthquakes. If you add business equipment and stocks and contents coverage, commercial property insurance can insure work tools, computers, documents, and other objects outside or inside your business’s building.

 

 

Cleaning Contractor Insurance

 

 

 

 

At an additional cost, you can add loss of income coverage and commercial auto insurance. Loss of income coverage will provide an allowance if you get injured and can’t work for a while. On the other hand, commercial auto insurance covers your liability for vehicular accidents. It will also help if your vehicle gets damaged.

 

 

Roof Cleaning Insurance

 

Roof cleaners can get tailored roof cleaning insurance that offers:

 

• General liability – $2 million policy limit, covers cost if you caused an accident and injured the client or damaged their property
• Professional liability, – $2 million policy limit, covers costs if you committed or allegedly committed errors and omissions and caused economic or financial loss
• Loss of income coverage – Falls and other accidents can happen while working. This coverage provides an allowance to supplement lost income if you need to take a break to heal
• Equipment and tools coverage – Covers the cost of repairing or replacing tools that got damaged or lost because of theft, vandalism, and other named perils

Cleaning Insurance for One Day

Cleaning insurance for one day pertains to different short-term business insurance policies for cleaners that can be availed as 24-hour coverage. The most popular is one day cleaning liability insurance in the form of general liability coverage, which provides $1 million-$2 million insurance money you can use to cover personal injury claims or property damage claims.

 

Cleaning Business Insurance Cost Chart

 

Whether you’re looking for window cleaning insurance costs, house cleaning insurance costs, or any other type of cleaning business, we got you covered! Ultimately, the average cost of your cleaning business insurance policy will depend on how much insurance coverage you need, the type of policy you have, the risk associated with your particular cleaning business, and the locations you’re operating your business in.  Expect to pay $45 per month or $540 per year for a $1 million general liability coverage.

 

 

However, for those who are curious about the numbers, we’ve put together a chart depicting the average cost of tailored business insurance for a cleaning company of different types.

 

 

As you can see, the more risk is involved, the more expensive your cleaning insurance tends to be. For example, there is a huge risk involved in high-rise window cleaning , both for employees and anybody standing below. This is exactly why window cleaning insurance cost is significantly higher than other cleaning businesses that involve less risk, like cleaning small residential homes .

 

 

Get more idea about the cost, here’s a table showing the pricing of the best cleaning insurance companies:

 

Best Cleaning Insurance Companies

 

Now that you have somewhat of an idea of the average cost of liability insurance for a cleaning company, it’s time to take a minute to provide you with a brief overview of the best providers of insurance for a cleaning business. Let’s talk about their pros, cons, and pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage.

 

 

CoverWallet Cleaning Business Insurance

 

 

Pros

 

• Compare quotes and purchase insurance online
• Offers general liability with $200,000 limit
• Has business owner’s policy with workers comp

 

Cons

 

• Not an insurance company but a broker selling the quotes of its partners

 

 

CoverWallet offers cleaning business insurance in four options. With this company, you can choose to get general liability only, general liability with commercial property, business owner’s policy with workers comp, and customized insurance plan.

 

CoverWallet’s general liability insurance for cleaning business starts at a $200,000 limit. Independent cleaning professionals will find this very advantageous. Other perks the company offers are online proof of insurance, policy management, and payments.

 

 

Best for: Cleaning business insurance online quotes comparison

 

Average cost: $32.91  per month

 

Our rating: 10/10

 

 

Thimble Cleaning Business Insurance

 

 

Pros

 

• Short-term cleaning business insurance
• Get online proof of insurance fast
• Cancel a policy anytime at no cost

 

Cons

 

• Claims filing can only be done online

 

 

Thimble primarily offers general liability insurance for cleaning businesses and independent cleaning contractors. But if you want more protection, then the company won’t discourage you from getting professional liability insurance. Other cleaning business insurance policies offered are business owner’s policy and workers compensation insurance. Thimble’s price starts at $38 per month.  However, you can also get insured for only hours, days, or weeks. Short-term insurance pricing starts at $6 per hour.

 

 

Best for: Cheap short-term cleaning insurance

 

Average cost: $38  per month

 

Our rating: 9/10

 

 

USAA Cleaning Insurance

 

 

Pros

 

• Can provide a diverse range of insurance policies for different cleaning businesses
• Reliable, friendly customer support and claims management

 

Cons

 

• Only available to the military

 

 

If you’re looking for cheap cleaning business insurance, then USAA has the best prices on the market. Time and time again, they’ve been consistently ranked as the lowest-cost insurer in the United States. However, there’s one catch- you have to be in the military (active duty or retired) to apply.

 

Whether you need insurance for a house cleaning business or a larger commercial cleaning business, USAA can provide business owners with comprehensive and affordable plans that can’t be beat by any other insurer on the market. They’re also well known for their respectful customer service, rewarding long-term members, and for their reliability.

 

 

Best for: Veteran and military cleaning business owners

 

Average Cost: $42  per month

 

Rating:   8/10

 

 

GEICO Cleaning Insurance

 

 

Pros

 

• Versatility in business insurance
• Fast, easy-to-use smartphone app
• Instant insurance coverage

 

Cons

 

• There are other cheaper insurance providers

 

 

Everybody knows Geico by the little green gecko who talks about how customers can “save 15% or more by switching their car insurance.” However, Geico also provides insurance for self-employed house cleaners, workers compensation insurance for cleaning businesses, pressure washing businesses, and just about any other small business you could think of. Generally, Geico is known for fair insurance premiums pricing, their easy-to-use app, and overall versatility as an insurer. Geico has a strong history in car insurance, which makes them a great choice for commercial auto insurance if you have any company vehicles you need to insure (such as window cleaning van insurance).

 

 

Best for: Commercial window cleaning liability insurance, residential cleaning insurance, commercial auto insurance

 

Average Cost: $46  per month

 

Rating: 7/10

 

 

State Farm Cleaning Insurance

 

 

Pros

 

• Free cleaning insurance quotes
• Competitive rates for cleaning service insurance costs
• Friendly customer service
• Offices nationwide

 

Cons

 

• Claims may take a while to process

 

 

If you’re looking for reliable insurance for a home cleaning business, then State Farm is highly regarded in terms of customer service. They have offices across the country which means that it’s relatively easy to get in contact with an agent and speak with somebody in-person, should the need ever arise. As far as pricing goes, State Farm is also quite competitive. Their cleaning business insurance and bonding cost are very similar to the rates offered by GEICO and Progressive.

 

 

Best for: Small cleaning businesses such as local pressure washers, self-employed cleaners, auto detailers, or dry cleaning shops

 

Average Cost: $50  per month

 

Rating: 6/10

Compare Cleaning Business Insurance Quotes

The numbers we’ve listed above are all average numbers taken by surveying a variety of different cleaning contractors’ insurance policies. To get more accurate quotes for your specific cleaning business, try using our free business insurance quote generator! Simply hit the get quotes button at this page. It only takes a few minutes to answer few questions and will generate competitive cleaning business insurance quotes tailored for your business – from the best insurers in the market!