DOMESTIC CLEANING INSURANCE - THE FACTS

When you are looking to get quotes for domestic cleaning liability insurance you need to make sure that the policy provides cover for all of the work that you do. Many insurers exclude cover for damaging the property you are cleaning and they exclude any damage caused by applying treatments to carpets, furniture, hard surfaces etc to remove stains.

Public Liability Insurance

This type of policy provides you with cover in the event that you cause injury to a member of the public or damage property belonging to a third party for which you are legally liable. So, for example if customer was to fall over your cleaning equipment they could legally sue you for their injuries. If they contacted a solicitor you would soon receive a notification of a compensation claim. By having public liability insurance for domestic cleaning you can relax and pass all correspondence to your insurer who will take care of everything, including the final compensation bill and solicitors costs. If you don't have any public liability insurance you will find yourself quickly buried in a raft of legal documents and be left with a large bill to pay when the case goes to court. To buy public liability insurance for domestic cleaning is relatively inexpensive compared to the financial costs of paying a claim yourself.

Get a quote online for domestic cleaning public liability insurance.

Employers Liability Insurance

If you employ staff or use labour only sub-contractors then you are legally required to have Employers Liability Insurance in place as outlined in the Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act of 1969. This is a legal requirement and if you trade without cover you can be fined heavily by the Health & Safety Executive. To read more about the Act please click here.
Employers Liability Insurance for domestic cleaning is bought as part of a combined policy with public liability insurance. Some insurers will charge you a premium per person which can be very expensive, our insurance provider don't work that way. Our quotes are based on an estimated turnover and wages figure which is cheaper and gives you more flexibility especially if your staff numbers change from month to month or you use part time staff.

Get a quote for domestic cleaning combined liability insurance.

Damage to Property Being Worked Upon

Very few insurers, brokers and online comparison sites provide cover for damage to carpets, upholstery, hard floors, soft furnishings or anything else you may be cleaning which is often called "damage to property being worked upon". That is because they don't understand the industry and the risks you face. We are specialists in arranging domestic cleaning insurance, one of only a handful of brokers in the UK who are. This isn't the same as Treatment Risks cover which covers you for treating stains. Should your machine have a fault and rip a hole in a carpet you wouldn't be covered unless you had cover for damage to property being worked upon. Some comparison sites try so hard to look like they are specialists but then they go and offer you the same liability policy that they would offer to a plumber or joiner. Damage to property being worked upon is a standard exclusion under most liability policies and is therefore not mentioned in your policy documents.

Treatment Risks

This isn't the same as damage to property being worked upon. If you are using chemicals to remove stains you need a policy with treatment risks cover included. Very few insurers provide this cover yet you won't realise you don't have it until you come to make a claim.

Products Liability Insurance

This cover sometimes causes confusion as again it is sometimes misinterpreted that this provides cover for the product being worked upon - it doesn't. Products Liability Insurance is provided by most insurers with Public Liability Insurance and provides cover for damage or injury caused by a product. For example a TV manufacturer would have Products Liability Insurance cover in case one of their TV's had a fault and caused a fire that damaged someone's house. Any claim for compensation would be met by the insurance company who provide the Products Liability cover. In most cases this cover is unnecessary for a domestic cleaner, but if you do supply products such as detergents then you may need the cover.

Help & Advice

Domestic Cleaners Public Liability Insurance
Domestic Cleaners Employers Liability Insurance
Frequently Asked Questions
Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969

 

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Domestic Cleaners Public Liability Insurance
Domestic Cleaners Combined Liability Insurance