What Insurance Should a Cleaning Business Have?

Cleaning work involves lifting, repetitive movements, exposure to chemicals and frequent work on slippery or uneven surfaces. This makes workers' comp insurance for cleaners a necessary addition to protect you from that risk. It is also required by state law once you hire your first employee, but the employee number that triggers the regulation can range from 1 to 5.

• What it covers: Medical expenses, partial lost wages and related benefits when an employee suffers a covered work-related injury or illness
• Common risks covered: A cleaner strains their back moving equipment, slips and falls at a job site or develops an illness after repeated chemical exposure
• What it doesn’t cover: Customer injuries, damage to client property, vehicle accidents or injuries to workers who are not covered under the policy
• Key limitation: Coverage depends on state rules and correct worker classification, including whether someone is legally treated as an employee
• What it costs: On average, workers’ comp for cleaning businesses at about $135 per month per employee.

While it's easy to ignore, cleaners have financial risk the moment they start driving to a client site. Personal auto insurance is not commercial auto insurance, and you either have to add a rider to your personal policy for business use or get a formal business policy. Business vehicle coverage is required in all states except one, and limits needed vary widely.

• What it covers: Liability for accidents involving covered business vehicles, with optional physical damage protection for the vehicle itself
• Common risks covered: An employee causes an accident while driving a company van to a job, or a business-owned vehicle is damaged in a collision
• What it doesn’t cover: Employee injuries, damage to customer property during cleaning work or the full value of tools and supplies inside the vehicle
• Key limitation: Equipment and supplies inside the vehicle need separate tools and equipment or inland marine coverage
• What it costs: We estimate commercial auto insurance for cleaning businesses sits at about $182 per month on average for minimum policies.
• Recommended limits: 100/300/100 liability limits with comprehensive and collision insurance are a balanced starting point that balances cost and coverage.

Tools and equipment coverage protects your portable property while it is stored, transported or used at client locations. A good rule of thumb is to get this coverage when replacing stolen or damaged equipment out of pocket would disrupt your ability to complete jobs.

• What it covers: Covered loss or damage to portable equipment such as vacuums, floor machines, pressure washers, carpet cleaners and specialty tools
• Common risks covered: Cleaning equipment is stolen from a vehicle or damaged while being moved between job sites
• What it doesn’t cover: Normal wear and tear, mechanical breakdown, intentional damage or every loss involving equipment left unattended
• Key limitation: Standard commercial property insurance may only cover equipment at a listed location, while commercial auto may not fully cover items inside the vehicle

Janitorial bonds and employee dishonesty coverage address theft-related concerns that can arise when cleaners work inside customer properties without direct supervision. Once you take on higher-value and commercial clients, it'll often come up as a requirement, but even when it isn't required, it is a great trust builder for any potential customer.

• What they cover: A janitorial bond generally reimburses the customer for covered theft by an employee, while employee dishonesty coverage can protect the cleaning company from certain employee theft or fraud losses
• Common risks covered: A customer alleges that an employee stole jewelry, cash or equipment during a cleaning appointment
• What they don’t cover: Accidental property damage, bodily injury or ordinary mistakes made during cleaning
• Key limitation: Some bonds require strong evidence of employee theft and may require a criminal conviction before paying a claim

Commercial property insurance protects equipment, supplies and other business property kept at a designated location, such as an office, warehouse or storage unit. It becomes necessary if your company keeps equipment at a business property you lease or finance, as it is a common requirement in financing contracts. Business interruption insurance is also often standard in these policies to cover you for interrupted operations due to events like a fire at the covered location.

• What it covers: Covered damage to cleaning equipment, supplies, furniture, computers and other property at an insured location
• Common risks covered: A fire damages floor-cleaning machines and supplies stored in the company’s warehouse
• What it doesn’t cover: Vehicle accidents, employee injuries or every loss involving equipment away from the insured location
• Key limitation: Portable equipment used at customer locations or transported between requires tools and equipment or inland marine coverage
• When to consider it: When you operate from a commercial location, store expensive equipment or would struggle to replace damaged property out of pocket
• What it costs: For the average cleaning company, commercial property insurance costs $26/mo

Home-based cleaners should also review whether their homeowners' or renters' policy limits business property. Personal policies may provide little or no coverage for commercial equipment, and if you want coverage, you may need to add a separate policy.

Cyber insurance may become important when a cleaning business uses digital scheduling, billing or customer-management systems. Even small cleaners may hold sensitive information such as addresses, payment details, access instructions or alarm codes. A single cyber claim averages $264,000 for small businesses, so even a single breach could cripple your operations.

• What it covers: Certain costs related to data breaches, customer notification, data restoration, cyber extortion and third-party liability
• Common example: A hacker gains access to a scheduling system containing customer addresses and building access information
• What it doesn’t cover: Every technology failure, previously known incidents or all forms of payment and social-engineering fraud
• Key limitation: Protection for fraudulent transfers, third-party software incidents, and social engineering (when employees are manipulated into a breach) varies significantly by policy
• What it costs: A standard $1 million policy costs $65/mo for cleaning services
• Recommended limits: $1 million limit policies are usually enough for most cleaning companies.

Umbrella or excess liability insurance adds another layer of limits above eligible underlying liability policies. It becomes increasingly necessary as you sign larger cleaning contracts, serve higher-value properties, or operate more vehicles. Generally, most small businesses need it if they do high-risk cleaning work or if their clients require higher limits than a standard policy provides (most often general liability).

• What it covers: Covered liability claims that exceed the limits of the underlying policies it is attached to
• What it doesn’t cover: Every exclusion in the underlying policies, professional errors or policies not scheduled beneath the umbrella
• Key limitation: The business must maintain required minimum limits on its underlying policies

Pollution liability insurance may be necessary when a cleaner’s work involves contaminants, hazardous substances or remediation activities that fall outside standard general liability protection. So, if you work in mold remediation, biohazard cleanup, HVAC cleanup or similar professions, you'll need this coverage type.

• What it covers: Covered cleanup costs, bodily injury and property damage caused by the release, dispersal or spread of pollutants
• Common example: Mold spores spread into another part of a building during remediation, or chemicals contaminate customer property
• What it doesn’t cover: Routine poor workmanship, known contamination or substances and services excluded by the policy
• Key limitation: The policy must account for the specific materials, services and locations involved

Professional liability insurance or E&O is most relevant when a cleaning professional provides technical advice, inspections, assessments or recommendations in addition to physical cleaning services. Generally, this is reserved for higher-risk professions where these items can cause the most harm, such as remediation (mold, asbestos) or biohazard cleanup. It may also be a requirement in commercial contracts in these areas, or if you manage cleaning across multiple properties a client owns.

• What it covers: Claims alleging that professional services, advice or recommendations caused a customer financial loss
• Common example: A mold assessor recommends an inadequate remediation plan that results in additional expenses for the property owner
• What it doesn’t cover: Bodily injury, accidental physical property damage, employee injuries or intentionally dishonest conduct
• Key limitation: Routine cleaning may not qualify as a professional service unless advisory or technical duties are specifically insured
• What it costs: For most cleaning professions, professional liability is cheap at around $19/mo on average.
• Recommended limits: $1 million per claim and aggregate coverage is plenty for most small cleaning companies