Starting a Domestic cleaning business- Need help with Public Liability Insurance

[Bossy30]

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Hi Everyone , Im starting a Domestic Cleaning business- specialising in End-Of-Lease/Bond Cleans. We have all the basics covered and cant find any info re; public liability insurance and how much we will need? If anyone can share some info on this / 5 Mill? 10 Mill? How you determine the amount and average quotes for the insurance ! Would be greatly appreciated !! Thank you

[Anonymous]

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Hi Bossy30,

We have some great insurance brokers around here, so I’m sure that someone will be able to give you some advice on this.

Welcome to the forum too, by the way,
Jayne

[alliedib]

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Hi Bossy,

Congratulations on heading out on your adventure!

The level of Liability cover is generally determined on an individual basis – some cleaners are comfortable with taking the minimum cover ($5m) where other are required by a contract (where they provide services to real estate agents or property managers) to take $10m or $20m. The cost for $20m is not 2 x $10m (and $10m is not 2x $5m) – I generally suggest looking at the big picture of (a) where you expect your work to come from and (b) where you intend to work and cover yourself accordingly.

Cleaners (like most industries to be honest) like to be ‘pigeon-holed’ by insurers – they want to know exactly what you are doing so they can ascertain the risk and whether they will cover you. Some of the areas that they categorise include:
– Domestic Cleaning Only;
– Domestic Cleaning incl. Garden Maintenance;
– Office Cleaning;
– Window Cleaning (<10m in height);
– Window Cleaning (>10m in height);
– Commercial Cleaning (outside business hours);
– Commercial Cleaning (during business hours);
– Supermarket Cleaning; and
– Shopping Centre Cleaning.
My suggestion is that you contemplate exactly where you expect to be operating and get cover for this – bear in mind, however, that insurers will generally exclude certain activities eg. shopping centres and if you are thinking of doing these you should talk to you insurer well ahead of time.

Our agency company provides cover for a number of domestic / office cleaners – PM me if you like and I can give you their details.

Good luck with everything.

Regards,

Mark

[Bossy30]

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alliedib, post: 199313 wrote:

Hi Bossy,

Congratulations on heading out on your adventure!

The level of Liability cover is generally determined on an individual basis – some cleaners are comfortable with taking the minimum cover ($5m) where other are required by a contract (where they provide services to real estate agents or property managers) to take $10m or $20m. The cost for $20m is not 2 x $10m (and $10m is not 2x $5m) – I generally suggest looking at the big picture of (a) where you expect your work to come from and where you intend to work and cover yourself accordingly.

Cleaners (like most industries to be honest) like to be ‘pigeon-holed’ by insurers – they want to know exactly what you are doing so they can ascertain the risk and whether they will cover you. Some of the areas that they categorise include:
– Domestic Cleaning Only;
– Domestic Cleaning incl. Garden Maintenance;
– Office Cleaning;
– Window Cleaning (<10m in height);
– Window Cleaning (>10m in height);
– Commercial Cleaning (outside business hours);
– Commercial Cleaning (during business hours);
– Supermarket Cleaning; and
– Shopping Centre Cleaning.
My suggestion is that you contemplate exactly where you expect to be operating and get cover for this – bear in mind, however, that insurers will generally exclude certain activities eg. shopping centres and if you are thinking of doing these you should talk to you insurer well ahead of time.

Our agency company provides cover for a number of domestic / office cleaners – PM me if you like and I can give you their details.

Good luck with everything.

Regards,

Mark

Thanks for your insight & knowledge. Ill be specialising in End of lease cleaning and cleaning of holiday houses only. We have some interest from local real estates and will be getting majority of my work from Real Estate agents. Is it safe to say $10mil would be adequate since we are dealing with Real estates?. I cannot find anything to explain which amount is best
Thanks again

[ProjectMan]

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Bossy30, post: 199274 wrote:

Hi Everyone , Im starting a Domestic Cleaning business- specialising in End-Of-Lease/Bond Cleans. We have all the basics covered and cant find any info re; public liability insurance and how much we will need? If anyone can share some info on this / 5 Mill? 10 Mill? How you determine the amount and average quotes for the insurance ! Would be greatly appreciated !! Thank you

depending on where you work, you will need $10M minium and up to $20M say for shopping centre work

[alliedib]

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Bossy30, post: 199317 wrote:

Is it safe to say $10mil would be adequate since we are dealing with Real estates?. I cannot find anything to explain which amount is best

I can’t give you any specific advice as to what is adequate for your situation, however you need to consider the ‘worst case scenario’- if the cost of a claim (defence costs and compensation) is $11m, then $10m Liability won’t be enough. And please don’t think that figure is excessive – if you do some work in an apartment building etc it might add up quicker than you think…

From my experience, when it comes to insurance for contractors real estate agents fall into 4 categories:
– Do you have insurance? Excellent – just write the details here;
– Can I have a copy of your insurance? It doesnt matter what you have as long as you have it?;
– I need a copy of your insurance, showing at least $10m Liability; or
– I need a copy of your insurance, showing at least $20m Liability

As mentioned earlier, what you do and where you do it will determine what you should be looking for – I can tell you that I generally give my clients three options ($5m / $10m / $20m) and the prices and then discuss which is best for their work (and financial) situation.

Regards,

Mark

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