Dryer vent cleaning insurance checklist: what a dryer vent cleaning company should carry

The dryer vent cleaning company insurance checklist

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Dryer vent cleaning usually carry general liability, workers' compensation and commercial auto. Dryer vent cleaners clear lint from ducts that cause house fires when they are not, work in laundry rooms and on exterior walls, and are the first call after a dryer fire in a home they serviced. The property manager and your landlord ask for proof of each. The checklist below covers who asks and how to check what you have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a dryer vent cleaning company for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Property managers & HOAs	General liability with the manager and owner as additional insureds, and workers' compensation
Landlords & commercial leases	General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation
Banks, lenders & SBA loans	Property or auto physical damage with the lender as loss payee, and liability proof at closing and every renewal

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.
Equipment schedule. Owned items scheduled above the per-item threshold, a blanket limit for small tools, leased or rented equipment included, and the valuation (replacement cost or actual cash value).
Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.

What usually goes wrong for dryer vent cleaning companies

A dryer fire after a cleaning, with no record of what was found and cleared.
A disconnected duct behind the dryer, and water or exhaust damage months later.
Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
Theft from a locked truck overnight with no tools floater, or a per-item limit lower than the one tool that mattered.
A personal auto policy on a truck with the company name on the door.
Employees using their own cars for deliveries or errands with no hired and non-owned coverage.

What underwriters will ask a dryer vent cleaning company

Residential versus multifamily share, how service is documented, and the heights worked from ladders
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
Total value of hand and power tools kept on the trucks
Each vehicle, its garaging address, radius and who drives it
Driver list with licence states and dates of birth for motor vehicle records

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.

Questions people actually ask

A home we serviced had a dryer fire. Are we liable?

Only if the cleaning was done wrongly, and the service record decides it. Completed-operations coverage answers the claim; photographs of the cleared duct and the reconnected transition are the defence. Keep both with every invoice in the wallet.

Does the policy cover work on exterior vents from a ladder?

When the carrier knows the business works at height, yes. Second-storey vents are a fall exposure the same as any eaves-line trade; describe the work rather than letting the policy assume a laundry room.

Does general liability cover damage to a customer's property while I work on it?

It covers damage to the rest of their property, not usually the part in your hands. Many forms exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a dryer vent cleaning company that handles valuable items or systems needs an endorsement or an installation floater. The policy explainer in the wallet flags the exclusion when it reads your policy.

Are tools stolen from my truck covered?

Under a tools floater, yes, subject to the deductible and any per-item limit. Under the commercial auto policy, no: auto covers the vehicle, not what was in it.

Can I keep my work truck on my personal auto policy?

Usually not once the truck is titled to the business, carries tools or a logo, or is driven by employees. Personal policies exclude business use beyond commuting, and a denied claim after an accident is an expensive way to find that out. The state auto minimums on the state pages are floors; contracts ask for more.