Cleaners Insurance

What Insurance Do I Need as a Cleaner?*

Some of the major types of business insurance covers available to cleaners in Australia are explained below and include:

• Public Liability Insurance
• Business Insurance Pack
• Personal Accident Insurance
• General Property and Tools
• Commercial Motor insurance
• Plant and Equipment Insurance

Why do cleaners need public liability insurance?*

Public Liability Insurance coverage is essential for all self-employed cleaners.

Cleaners need public liability insurance as cleaning involves working with hazardous chemicals and the slippery surface they create after mopping increases the probability of an accident on site.

People and property on site may be hurt or damaged due to accidents involving cleaning work.

Mopped floors that can be extremely slippery until they dry , and working in people’s homes unsupervised amongst valuable items of furniture and artwork means cleaners are at high risk of claims against them.

Protections offered to self-employed cleaners by public liability insurance in Australia generally include:

• Injury to other persons due to your cleaning activities –Where a cleaners business activity causes harm to a third-party person. For example, a client ignores your warnings to stay away from the site and injure themselves when they trip and fall on your equipment, or the slippery floor you just mopped.
• Damage to others property due to your cleaning activities – Where a cleaners business activity causes damages to a third- party’s property. For example, a cleaner may accidently cause damage in a client’s home while performing work. As you’re treating a carpet, your cleaning equipment accidentally damages the carpet. You may accidently drop a clients lap top while moving it to clean a benchtop. Or a client may claim you scratched their tiled floor while cleaning it.
• Harm to other persons or other persons property due to your cleaning business’s products – Where a cleaners business’s products and goods supplied causes harm to a third party -person or a third- party’s property. For example, products a cleaner has supplied, repaired, or manufactured cause harm, injure someone or cause property damage. A chemical a cleaner used to clean the floor causes a clients treasured dog to become tragically ill.

Public liability insurance coverage may protect cleaners from claims that arise when others allege, they are negligent.

A cleaner’s public liability policy may provide a defence against the ensuing lawsuit when needed and may pay the damages sought by the injured party.

Public Liability Insurance may provide cleaners with protection for Slip-and-trip accidents , Accidents that damage client property.

Business insurance pack for cleaners*

Cleaners may be able to combine multiple covers in a single business insurance pack policy.

By ‘packaging’ your business insurance into a ‘business pack’ cleaners can potentially cover many of the risks their business faces in the one policy.

For example, if a cleaner has a commercial premises, a business insurance pack may provide cover for buildings and contents if they are accidentally damaged by a defined event, such as fire, storm, impact damage, accidental damage, vandalism, or malicious damage.

Other typical inclusions for cleaners with a business insurance pack are Public Liability Insurance and Product Liability Insurance.

Optional inclusions for cleaners with a business insurance pack are General Property, Contents, Machinery, Plant and Stock , Glass, Money , Business Interruption and Marine Cover.

Personal Accident Insurance for self-employed cleaners*

As a self-employed cleaner your personal safety is your livelihood.

Personal accident insurance for cleaners may provide cover for 52 or 104 weeks and up to 85%* of weekly income at the time of the injury; depending on the amount of coverage agreed when the policy is taken out.

Time away from work from an accident will have a direct impact on a self-employed cleaner’s income, and a long period away can negatively affect their savings, family, and lifestyle.

Personal Accident Insurance may help self-employed cleaners pay for essential bills and other financial commitments if they have an accident.

General Property and Tools Insurance for cleaners*

As a cleaner, you are likely to have  tools and equipment that allow you to do your job, such as your vacuum and cleaning kit.

If your property is damaged or stolen, your business cannot operate effectively.

General property insurance can help you keep operating effectively.

It can provide needed funds to replace your tools such as your vacuum and cleaning kit.….and help keep you in business.

Commercial motor insurance for self-employed cleaners*

Commercial motor insurance should be considered for cleaners that drive their vehicle from site to site. Light trucks, vans and Utes may be covered.

Plant & Equipment Insurance for cleaning businesses*

Plant & Equipment Insurance may provide cover for owners of small cleaning businesses that operate equipment such as floor scrubbers , steam cleaners , vacuums and trailers.

Cover may provide cleaners with protection for theft, damage, consequential loss, liability, road risk and machinery breakdown.