In the midst of dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, and perhaps a powerful chemical or two, mistakes and accidents can be unwelcome surprises. The good news is, they do not have to derail the entire operation. Cleaner insurance protects you against the cost of the unexpected, whether you’re self employed or not. This article is a guide to help you find the right insurance as a dry cleaner, as well as getting public liability insurance as a window cleaner.
Getting Cleaner Insurance
As a professional cleaner, you are in a position of trust with your clients. You take pride in your work and are considerate of their property and privacy. But you can’t think of everything, and problems do arise. Things break, people get hurt, and clients aren’t always happy with your work. Cleaner insurance protects you with a customized insurance policy. This policy covers legal liability claims as well as the other risks that you face as a cleaner.
Why You Need Cleaner Insurance
#1. Dissatisfied Clients
As a professional, you’ll take the time to understand and agree on exactly what your clients expect of you. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll never get into trouble. You have your own high standards. But then, there is always the possibility that a client will be dissatisfied with your work. They may first discuss it with you directly. However, if they decide to take action against you, you must be protected.
#2. Property damage
Whether you work as a domestic cleaner or in an office, you understand the importance of treating other people’s property with respect. Accidents do happen. And whether a high-end TV falls off its stand while you’re dusting or one of your new employees spills a drink on an office printer, we’ll cover the compensation costs you’ll incur.
#3. Injuries and accidents
A client may arrive home early and slip on a wet floor or trip over your vacuum cleaner’s cable. You may believe you are not accountable because the accident occurred in their home. However, any injury caused by your professional services could result in a public liability action. Having the proper insurance means that we’ll be there to assist with charges. You’ll just pay the excess.
Types of Insurance for the Cleaning Business
#1. Public Liability Insurance
If a member of the public claims to have been hurt or their property has been damaged as a result of your professional services, public liability insurance will protect you. Also, you’ll need public liability insurance if you are a window cleaner. Although it may not appear to be a risky occupation, accidents can occur rapidly, especially with damp floors and equipment laying around. If the worst should happen, we’ll be there to assist you with the legal and compensation fees associated with dealing with any claims made against you.
#2. Employers’ liability insurance.
Employers’ liability insurance is required if you employ anyone else in your business. It exists to protect you from the costs and hassles that may arise if an employee claims to have been harmed or become ill as a result of their job for you. It’s not just for full-time employees; if someone is injured while working with you on the weekend, they may decide to file a claim.
#3. Insurance for portable equipment
You rely on your tools, and in many cases, you can’t complete the job without them. What then happens if they’re damaged or stolen? Whether it’s your own specialist equipment that goes missing, or you’ve hired something special just for a specific project, portable equipment insurance from Hiscox ensures you’re covered for replacements or repairs so you can get back to work as soon as possible.
Dry Cleaner Insurance
Dry cleaners, shirt and flatwork laundries, and coin-operated laundries have insurance requirements that extend well beyond their equipment. Clothing and other customer products exposures are the most essential and frequently underinsured.
Many dry cleaners or laundries, in our experience, are one tragedy away from going out of business due to inadequate insurance coverage. Fabricare owners believe they are saving money by opting for a “cheaper” insurance package. However, that policy will not allow the company to reopen after a total loss.
Dry cleaner and laundry insurance is specialized business insurance designed to meet the demands of laundromat and dry cleaning owners. Choosing the right coverage for your insurance policy is critical. This is because it may protect your company from the potentially crippling expense of a loss. An example of such loss is a dryer catching fire or an employee slipping and falling and injuring themselves.
What Dry Cleaner Insurance do you Need?
You can get dry cleaner insurance coverage in areas like:
- Property insurance: protects you against equipment failure, water/sewer problems, fires, and robberies.
- Customer Goods Insurance. Provides you with the large sums required to replace the goods of your customers that you have in your custody during a fire.
- General Liability Insurance: protects you from any medical injuries that may arise as a result of someone being injured in your laundry facility, as well as advertising injury, which can occur when someone accuses you of slogan, logo, or intellectual property infringement.
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance: to protect you when it comes to paying for medical bills for any employees who may have been hurt on the job, as well as paying for missed income and rehabilitation costs that may arise as a result of an employee injury.
- Auto insurance: protects you against any liability responsibility that may arise as a result of an automobile accident involving corporate vehicles and the personnel who drive them.
Self Employed Cleaner Insurance
Domestic cleaner insurance is typically sold as a package that includes a variety of different types of insurance, though motor insurance is typically purchased separately.
A self employed cleaner insurance policy will typically include liability insurance. This protects you if a compensation claim is made against you because something you did or did not do resulted in a loss to an employee or a third party. It also includes property insurance, which protects your company’s assets from accidental damage or theft.
It is critical that you protect your company by ensuring that you are adequately insured. When you have to buy insurance, it may seem like an annoyance. However, when you need to make a claim, that annoyance becomes a worthwhile investment.
Also, keep in mind that, in addition to paying money to cover losses, your insurer will assist you if you need to file a claim. This is especially important when it comes to liability insurance because the compensation claims that liability insurance covers frequently involve complicated legal arguments. It means you can let your insurer deal with the solicitors while you focus on running your business.
Insurance against public liability
As a cleaner, you will be in constant contact with members of the public. Even if you have completed your cleaning before the public arrives, they may be affected by something you have done.
If you clean a floor but it hasn’t dried by the time a store opens, someone could slip on it. If they broke a bone as a result of that slip, the compensation claim made against you could easily cost more than £20,000 once their lost wages, legal costs, and any expenses they had incurred were added to the compensation for their actual injury.
Public liability insurance protects you from compensation claims made by members of the general public who claim you injured them or damaged their property. Your public liability insurer will also defend claims on your behalf. This allows you to focus on cleaning for your clients rather than legal paperwork.
If you work on commercial property, it is extremely typical for the owner of the property to require you to provide proof of self employed public liability cleaner insurance as a condition of the contract. You will be limited in the jobs you can take on if you do not have public liability insurance.
Employer liability insurance
You must have employer’s liability insurance if you employ anyone, even if they are only employed on a casual or temporary basis. Anyone who operates without employer’s liability insurance when obligated to do so faces severe penalties.
Employer’s liability insurance is similar to public liability insurance in that it protects you from compensation claims made by employees rather than compensation claims made by members of the general public. Your employer’s liability insurers, like public liability insurers, will handle claims on your behalf so you don’t have to deal with legal paperwork.
Automobile insurance
Cleaners will be cleaning other people’s properties, so they will require transportation. Typically, this will imply that they will be driving or driving a van between jobs, and anyone driving or driving a van between jobs is required by law to have motor insurance.
Motor insurance protects you if someone sues you because they were injured or their property was damaged as a result of an accident that was your fault. Damage to your own vehicle is also covered if you have comprehensive insurance. Third-party, fire, and theft insurance is less expensive, but it only covers damage to your own vehicle caused by fire or theft.
Some motor insurance policies only cover you for social, domestic, and pleasure use, so check with your insurer to make sure you’re covered for using your vehicle to travel to and from clients.
Property protection insurance
You’ll need tools, equipment, and cleaning supplies as a cleaner. You’ll also have a cell phone and, more than likely, a computer that you’ll use to manage your business.
You would be unable to conduct your firm without these products. Property insurance can cover damages caused by unintentional damage or theft of certain items. It is available in two varieties: tools and equipment insurance and business contents insurance. Tools and equipment insurance protects the tools and equipment you use at work. Business contents insurance protects any property you use to conduct business operations, such as telephones and computers.
Overall, it is critical to ensure that your self-employed cleaning insurance coverage covers all of these areas. The only exception to this is motor insurance, which is normally insured under a separate policy.
Window Cleaner Insurance
As a window cleaner, you are aware of the hazards of your job, so you should have public liability insurance. This is important because you’ll be working with ladders and glass. If you employ people, you must also carry employers’ liability insurance. A variety of options are available for you to choose from and pay for only what you require.
Why do you Need Window Cleaner’s Insurance Cover?
All-day, you’re climbing ladders and working on your clients’ properties, often at high heights. You must have seen some amazing sites! However, you may encounter a variety of misfortunes. There’s also your van and tools to consider. So, in addition to safeguarding your clients and everyone who works with you, it’s a good idea to protect yourself as well. We assist many window cleaners in selecting the best protection for their needs.
Public liability insurance for window cleaners
As a window cleaner, you require public liability insurance in case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
What does Public Liability Insurance Cover?
Claims against your company for:
- Damaging someone else’s property through your window-cleaning work
- injury you have caused to someone else through your window-cleaning work
- damage or injury caused by your employee (remember, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance if you employ people)
Examples:
- you accidentally scratch a window frame with your brush while you’re cleaning windows at a customer’s house
- your ladder falls onto a pedestrian in the street, resulting in a dislocation
- your employee dislodges some tiles on a customer’s roof with the ladder, as a result, rain leaks through into the loft, and several repairs are needed
What you’ll need additional cover for
- any non-window-cleaning jobs you carry out. For example, building, gardening, or fitting bathrooms
How Much does window cleaning insurance cost?
To successfully protect your business, your insurance should be tailored to your specific requirements. And, because your business is unique, so will your insurance.
In 2019, 10% of window cleaning customers spent £89* for insurance – but the easiest way to find out how much your insurance will cost is to seek a quote online. It will only take a few minutes to find out, but the peace of mind it will provide is invaluable. In addition, if you purchase online, you will receive a 10% discount. You have the option of making a one-time annual payment or spreading the cost over several months (subject to acceptance criteria).
Conclusion
Whether you work as a self employed cleaner, with a few coworkers, or hire hundreds of people, it is critical to get insurance to protect yourself from a variety of hazards. As a professional cleaner, you need insurance that’s built for your sector and tailored to your specific needs to ensure you’re covered in the event of an accident, injury, breakage, or having your own equipment stolen.
Cleaner Insurance FAQs
Do you need insurance to be a cleaner?
Yes, house cleaners must be insured. Before agreeing to work with you, most clients will demand that you have a Public Liability policy in place to safeguard their property from any harm you may inadvertently cause.
What insurance do i need to be a cleaner in UK?
Most cleaners will need at least public liability insurance (and possibly employers’ liability insurance) in case of unanticipated medical or legal expenditures.
