Public liability insurance for cleaners

The detail behind the answer

A quotation starts with the facts of the work. That includes the places you visit, the people around you and anything that could cause damage away from your own premises.

Insurance sits alongside safe working and decent records. It cannot correct an excluded activity or replace precautions required by the policy.

A sensible description of the risk should take account of: a visitor slips on a wet floor; a chemical marks a surface; and keys are lost or premises left unsecured. The examples are there to test the description of the business. The policy wording still decides how a claim is handled.

Have the following details beside you: domestic, commercial and specialist cleaning; carpet, oven, window or high-level work; and key holding and any employees. If one point is uncertain, ask how the question should be answered and keep the reply.

Do not file the documents unread. The business description, limits, excesses and endorsements deserve a first-day check. Make the enquiry before accepting the policy rather than after an incident.

What can go wrong around the work

These are the less obvious ways trouble can start:

• A visitor slips on a wet floor
• A chemical marks a surface
• Keys are lost or premises left unsecured

If one of these examples is a regular part of your work, make sure it has not been lost in a broad trade description.

Suppose the issue was “a visitor slips on a wet floor”. A provider would need more than the trade name. It may need to know the job, the property involved, the precautions required and when the problem first became apparent.

Now compare that with “a chemical marks a surface”. It may involve a different cause and a different part of the wording. Similar-looking claims do not always follow the same route.

An insurer may still reach a different view after investigating a real incident. At the buying stage, accuracy is the part within your control.

Useful records for the quotation

Recent invoices and contracts should help you establish:

• Domestic, commercial and specialist cleaning
• Carpet, oven, window or high-level work
• Key holding and any employees

A trade name rarely tells the whole story. “domestic, commercial and specialist cleaning”, “carpet, oven, window or high-level work” and “key holding and any employees” give the provider a clearer account of the tasks, people and places involved in the work.

If another person completes the form for the business, read the answers before cover is accepted. The responsibility for accurate information does not disappear.

Two reminders from this page are “treatment risks can have conditions” and “check theft-by-employee and key cover separately”; keep them beside the documents when you check the quotation. If the policy takes a different approach to “domestic, commercial and specialist cleaning”, ask about it before the cover is needed and retain any written reply.

Save the answers you submit. Check the insured name, business description and dates when the policy documents arrive.

Check the limits and restrictions

• Treatment risks can have conditions
• Check theft-by-employee and key cover separately
• Use warning signs and product instructions

If a clause is unclear, ask for an explanation before the cover is needed. Keep that explanation with the policy.

What to look at one last time

Confirm who works for the business and how subcontractors are used. Employment status and working arrangements can affect more than one type of insurance.

This is a paperwork check, not a safety plan. The job still needs suitable precautions and competent work.

Read the cancellation and payment terms as well. Cover can be affected if an instalment fails or a requested document is not supplied, even though the original quotation looked satisfactory.

One point is easy to lose among the paperwork: use warning signs and product instructions; check how this affects the jobs you accept and ask for clarification if the policy takes a different approach.