Cleaners Insurance

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Business Insurance for Cleaners*

Cleaners need business insurance, including public liability insurance as cleaning is high liability work, with frequent accident on sites.

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

Cleaners are vulnerable to claims against them from customers slipping on a wet floor they just mopped and can also be accused of damaging property.

Fortunately, suitable business insurance for cleaners may provide protection against financial hardships that could arise from accidents, property damage, or legal claims caused by your cleaning business activities.

Cleaners’ business and public liability insurance may cover property damage, injuries to third parties that are caused by your cleaning equipment and work activities.

Many Business Owners are UNSURE if they are COVERED PROPERLY.
We help them find affordable and SUITABLE INSURANCE so they can run their business with CONFIDENCE.*

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.

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What are the costs of Cleaners Public Liability Insurance?*

How much does public liability insurance cost for self-employed Cleaners?

Key factors in determining how much Public Liability insurance will cost a cleaner include:

  • The nature and scope of the cleaning For example, the type of work performed by the cleaner.
  • The cleaning business turnover and size. For example, is the cleaner a sole trader that does 100% of the work themselves, or do they employee a team of 3 subbies?
  • Amount of insurance cover the cleaning business needs. Liability starts with $5 million cover, $10 million is popular with many self-employed contractors, $20 million cover is needed for cleaners that work for large companies, on commercial sites or have a team of employees.

Public liability insurance cost for a self-employed cleaner with no previous claims, starts from around $500* or $50 per month for $5 million Public Liability Insurance.

*** Please note ***: While cheap Public Liability Insurance can seem attractive on the surface it is important to ensure the policy covers you for the full business activities you undertake, and that the insurance policy and company will respond as intended when there is a claim. Costs may differ greatly from the above based on the cleaning business size, clients, experience, and business activities. For many cleaners, that perform commercial cleaning , clean shopping centres in business hours or that have employees, costs will be a lot higher.

Do I need business insurance to work as a self-employed cleaner in Australia?*

Self-employed cleaners, or cleaning small business owners, subcontracting for builders will typically be required by the builder to obtain their own public liability insurance to get on site.  This is typical for contracting cleaners working for builders throughout Australia.

Many small business owners, and even retail clients, will also ask to see proof of a cleaner’s insurance cover, called a certificate of currency, prior to awarding them work and ask for an update each year.

As a self-employed cleaner, suitable business insurance may provide credibility and valuable protection against the cost of a claim too.

Key cleaning activities that may be able to be covered include:*

  • vacuuming
  • sweeping
  • mopping
  • emptying bins
  • sanitising toilets, sinks, showers and kitchen fixtures.
  • cleaning windows and walls
  • clearing spider webs
  • dusting surface areas and furniture

Why do cleaners need tools insurance?*

Cleaners need tool insurance as tools are the lifeblood of cleaners.

They help cleaners just like you to complete work on time, and to deliver quality workmanship.

Cleaners have a large number of tools compared to many other trades. And good tools are expensive. If they break or are stolen, it can impact your ability to get the job done or cost you thousands to replace.

Without tool insurance, you may have to dig into your own savings or borrow money to get the tools replaced or repaired.

Different types of cleaners that may be able to be covered:*

  • Residential cleaners ; cleaning homes
  • Commercial cleaners ; cleaning offices, hospitals, retail shops, schools, industrial work areas, industrial machines,  and construction sites
  • Carpet cleaners
  • Window cleaners
  • Bond cleaners

Why should cleaners use an insurance broker in Australia?*

If you are a cleaner deciding on whether to use an insurance broker for your business insurance, it is important to consider that brokers act in the interests of the self-employed cleaner.

Direct insurers and agents act for the insurer. This can be important; especially if you need to claim.

Brokers can help cleaners by sourcing competitive quotes on policy inception, negotiate with the insurance companies to prevent or limit increases on renewal, remarket your policy to other suitable insurance companies where appropriate, talk to underwriters about policy wordings, industry classifications and terms, talk to insurance assessors during the claims process and repairers where necessary.

How do I get a cleaners insurance quote?*

Simply TALK to a SMART Business Insurance broker on 1300 542 573 or contact us online for suitable and affordable public liability and business insurance quotes for your cleaning business.

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