Who asks a house cleaning company for what
| Who | What they usually want to see |
|---|---|
| Landlords & commercial leases | General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation |
| Property managers & HOAs | General liability with the manager and owner as additional insureds, and workers' compensation |
| Franchisors | The brand's minimum limits across general liability, property, auto and employment practices |
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.
- Crime declarations. Employee theft, forgery, funds-transfer fraud and social engineering each have their own limit; third-party coverage if you work in clients' premises.
- Bonds. The obligee (board, municipality or owner), the penal sum and the expiry date; a bond is renewed with the licence or the job, not with the policy year.
- 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.
- Bailee coverage. The limit for customers' property at your premises and in transit, the valuation basis and any exclusions for specific items.
- Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.
What usually goes wrong for residential house cleaning companies
- Cleaners driving their own cars between houses with no hired and non-owned auto.
- Breakage of client property treated as covered when the policy excludes property in your care.
- 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.
- A client contract that says "bonded and insured" satisfied with a certificate that shows neither bond nor third-party crime.
- Relying on general liability for a damaged item that was in your hands when it happened.
- A workers' compensation estimate set low in January and settled with a large audit bill in the spring.
What underwriters will ask a house cleaning company
- Number of cleaners and how they travel, whether the business is a franchise, and how keys and codes are controlled
- Residential versus commercial split of the work
- Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
- Background checks, key control and whether staff work unsupervised at night
- Typical and maximum value of customer property on hand at one time
- Payroll by class of work, headcount and turnover
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.