You work inside other people’s buildings. That is the whole exposure.
Commercial insurance for commercial cleaning, window washing, pressure washing and house cleaning. Including the bond clients ask for by name.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What janitorial and cleaning businesses actually need.
General liability
Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.
Without it — Damage you cause inside a client building is your bill, and no contract will be signed without the certificate.
Crime & employee dishonesty
Theft by your own staff, funds transfer fraud, and the dishonesty bond a home care contract will ask you for by name.
Without it — A theft allegation against a crew member with keys is the claim this trade actually faces, and clients ask for the bond by name.
Workers compensation
Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.
Without it — Chemical exposure and fall injuries become uncapped claims against the business.
Commercial auto
Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.
Without it — Crews driving between sites all day are uninsured for work use without it.
Inland marine & equipment
Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.
Without it — Machines, pressure washers and equipment stolen from vans are a total loss.
Umbrella & excess liability
Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.
Without it — Larger property management contracts routinely require limits above the primary policy.
Contractors pollution liability
Bodily injury, property damage and clean-up caused by a pollutant your work released — chemical drift, run-off, fuel spills. The standard general liability form excludes all of it.
Without it — A chemical spill, a fume complaint that empties a floor, or the wrong product on the wrong surface is excluded by the pollution wording on a standard policy.
Five endorsements, and a certificate is none of them.
A certificate is evidence a policy existed the day it was printed — it says so on its own face. The coverage a contract is really asking for lives on the policy as named endorsements, and this is the list they come from.
- Additional insured — ongoing operationsCG 20 10Covers the general contractor for claims arising from your work while the job is in progress.Without it: They fund their own defence on a claim your work caused, then look to you for it.
- Additional insured — completed operationsCG 20 37Extends that cover to claims arising after your work is finished.Without it: The claim arrives years later, when the policy that should have carried it has renewed several times. Cheaper policies often exclude this or do not offer it.
- Primary and non-contributoryCG 20 01Puts your policy first and stops your insurer demanding a contribution from theirs.Without it: Two insurers argue about who pays while the defence waits.
- Waiver of subrogationCG 24 04Stops your insurer recovering from the party you agreed in writing to protect.Without it: Your insurer pays, then sues your customer, which ends the relationship.
- Per-project aggregateCG 25 03Gives each job its own general aggregate instead of sharing one across the year.Without it: Another project’s claims quietly spend the limit that was meant to cover this one.
Tract, condominium and apartment work is the exception that undoes all five — an exclusion for multi-unit residential removes the coverage before any endorsement can apply. What national homebuilders require covers that in full.
What janitorial and cleaning operators ask us.
What does "bonded and insured" actually mean?
Insured means you carry liability coverage for damage you cause. Bonded usually means a janitorial service bond, which covers theft of a client’s property by your employees — a different thing entirely, and the one clients are really asking about when they let strangers into a building after hours. Most cleaning contracts want both, and the bond is inexpensive.
Do I need coverage for damage to what I am cleaning?
Yes, and it is the gap most cleaning policies have. General liability excludes property in your care, custody and control, which is a problem when the thing you damaged is the floor you were treating or the window you were washing. Care, custody and control coverage is the endorsement that closes it.
Are my subcontracted cleaners covered?
Not automatically. If they cannot produce their own certificate, expect their pay to be treated as payroll at audit and expect your policy to be the one that responds to their claims. Collect certificates before the first shift, not at renewal.