A commercial cleaning company is a different insurance proposition from a self employed cleaner, and the difference is not only size. It employs people, it works across premises it does not control, and its clients write the insurance requirements into the contract rather than asking about them casually.
The contract sets the limits, not the risk
Facilities managers, managing agents and public sector bodies specify insurance in their tender and contract documents: a public liability limit, an employers' liability limit, sometimes professional indemnity where any consultancy or specification is involved, and frequently a requirement to note the client's interest on the policy or to provide a certificate naming the contract. The practical effect is that the cover a cleaning company buys is a function of the contracts it wants to bid for. Firms that price cover against their own view of their risk find themselves ineligible for the work they were aiming at.
Employing people across sites you do not control
Employers' liability is compulsory from the first member of staff and is the section most directly affected by growth. Cleaning operatives work early, late, alone and in buildings whose hazards belong to somebody else, which makes the interface between your risk assessments and the client's a real question rather than a paperwork one. Insurers rate this trade with lone working, chemical handling and slips in mind, and the claims history on those categories is what moves the premium at renewal far more than turnover does.
Damage inside the client's building
The care, custody and control exclusion is as important here as for a single cleaner and the amounts at stake are larger. A machine that damages an office floor, a chemical that marks a stone reception, water that reaches a server room: all are damage to the premises you were engaged to work on, and all can fall outside plain public liability. Contract cleaning policies normally address this, but the way they address it varies between deleting the exclusion and offering a modest sublimit, and the sublimit may be well below the value of a commercial fit out.
Specialist work, keys and the extras
Several common additions to a cleaning contract sit outside the base policy. Working at height for external glazing, use of powered access, jet washing, and any work in a kitchen extraction system are all separately rated. Keyholding and alarm response are again their own extension. Where the company holds keys or codes for many client sites, the aggregate exposure to a lock replacement claim is considerably larger than it first appears, and it is worth setting the limit against the largest client rather than the typical one.
Questions people ask about commercial cleaning insurance
What insurance do commercial cleaning contracts usually require?
Public liability and employers' liability at limits named in the contract, and increasingly evidence that damage to the client's own property is covered rather than excluded. Larger contracts may also ask for professional indemnity.
Is employers' liability needed for part time cleaning staff?
Yes. The obligation is triggered by employing somebody, not by hours worked, so part time, casual and evening staff all count and must be covered.
Does the policy cover damage to a client's flooring or fittings?
Only where the care, custody and control exclusion has been written back or a damage extension applies, and often only up to a sublimit. Check the figure against the value of the fit outs you work in.