NYC Insurance Blog

Do House Cleaners Need Insurance?

House cleaners often face all types of health and safety hazards in their line of work. If not dealing with slip-and-fall accidents, they could inhale chemicals or lose their hearing due to the loud cleaning equipment. 

Offering them protection equipment may not be enough. More so, house cleaners interact with all sorts of valuable items in people’s homes. They hear conversations and see things. All these could lead you and your business to some serious trouble.

So, do you need to protect yourself and your business from any financial burden resulting from the actions of your employees? Yes, yes, you do.

What Insurance do House Cleaners Need?

Whether you are working alone or own a company that offers house-cleaning services, you need the right insurance to protect you and your employees. 

House cleaners can choose from 3 main insurance policies:

• General liability insurance
• Worker’s compensation for people with employees
• Business personal property insurance

Now, let us learn how each works. 

1. General Liability Insurance for House Cleaners

General liability coverage for your house cleaning business is a crucial cover. It protects your business from any third-party property damage and bodily injury liability. To be fully covered it's best to advise with an insurance broker, give us a call today to get a free quote!

In short, the general liability policy covers:

• Third-party bodily injuries
• Product liability
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injuries

So, when one of your cleaners messes up while working at a client’s house and you have a lawsuit, the general liability insurance caters to the legal costs. The cover also includes an advertising injury and personal cover, covering reputational damages such as copyright infringement and physical injuries.

When one of your customers gets hurt in an accident involving your company workers or equipment, the general liability insurance covers the medical cost under the third-party bodily injuries wing. 

On the other hand, if you use products that are safe for you but result in some severe allergic reaction from the customer, you may face a lawsuit in court. The client could sue for the days they missed work, and a general liability cover will take of it. 

2. Workers’ Compensation

If you have any employees working as house cleaners in your business, you will need worker’s compensation insurance. Worker’s comp is a policy that covers medical expenses and any lost income that your employees suffer after sustaining injuries at work. 

The cover also includes death benefits, like holding a funeral and rehabilitation costs. 

However, the employees only receive the cover benefits if the injuries or illness directly relate to their duties at work.

Most states in the US require that employers get workers’ comp insurance. Failure to take a worker’s compensation insurance puts your small house cleaning business at the risk of closing when an employee sues you for compensation. 

3. Business Personal Property

Business personal property or BPP insurance is a cover that protects your tangible assets. The policy includes the cost of repairs or replacement of stolen, damaged, or lost property. So, if a few of your vacuum cleaners are missing, you do not have to bear the financial burden of replacing them.

You could hire a commercial space or run the company from your home when you have a house cleaning business. The BPP will be part of your commercial property insurance when you rent out a space. 

However, if you work from home, some of the items you use for your business will not be within the limits of your homeowner’s insurance. Therefore, you would need BPP insurance to protect your business contents.Not sure where to begin, or confused about what all of this mean, give us a call to help simplify the insurance purchasing process!

The business personal property insurance covers:

• Machinery
• Heavy equipment
• Electronics
• Computers
• Furniture
• Office supplies
• Movable items

Since the BPP is a tax-deductible business expense, having a BPP cover helps you reduce your tax bill.

4. Cyber Insurance

Cyber insurance helps protect your business from the devastating effects of cybercrimes. It protects your business from any lawsuits that could arise from your company disclosing information about its clients.

Since you will probably have a website to advertise your services and connect with customers, then cyber-risk insurance is necessary. Remember, as the number of devices increases, the attack risks also increase. 

A breach in your business, where you probably handle people’s home details, payments, and some crucial information, will be costly for your company. 

Cyber insurance offers a wide range of coverage for losses sustained from attacks. It could also cover any physical damages and lost income your business suffers from a cyberattack. 

So, Does a House Cleaning Company Need Insurance?

An individual working for a house cleaning company probably already has a comprehensive cover provided by their employer. However, you may need to check what the insurance covers. If there are cases not insured, you can take on an additional insurance policy to complement your liability policy. Call us Today to Talk to an Agent!

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