Whatever business you are in, there is one side of it that is less than pleasant, but that you still need to be always prepared for. Getting a lawsuit from a disgruntled customer. Cleaning companies are not exempt from this. Whether they are suing you for property damages (a scratched window, damaged wooden work surface, etc.) or injury caused to person by slippage or some other way, as the owner of a cleaning service, you need liability insurance.

General Liability Insurance and Why You Must Have it

When we say “liability insurance”, we primarily mean “general liability insurance” (more later on whether you need “professional liability insurance”). This type of insurance can (and in most cases will) protect your cleaning business in the event something wrong happens as a result of your cleaning (think slips, drips, spills and trips) by paying for legal defense to present you.

That, is the biggest, but not the only reason why liability insurance is important for a cleaning company. Many clients will simply refuse to work with you if you don’t prove them that you have it. The general liability insurance is not only there to protect you but, by extension, the customers as well. They want to know that they will also be covered in case something happens and they have to make a claim.

Claims can be made on almost everything from accidentally ruining the customer’s clothes with bleach to causing a serious injury to someone, as long as they were the result of your or your worker’s actions or negligence. And, because these claims can be from a few bucks to several hundred thousand dollars (one cleaning company had to pay more than $300,000 because their employee scratched a glass in a custom-built residence), there’s no room for “ifs” and “maybes” here. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

What About Professional Liability Insurance?

We mentioned earlier another type of liability insurance, professional liability insurance. This one is a bit different from the general liability insurance. But do you need this one as well?

Unlike general liability insurance, which covers claims for injury and property damage caused by your negligence, a professional liability policy is designed to cover professional mistakes, errors and omissions. For instance, your accountant would need this in case he missed a tax deduction.

But what about cleaning businesses? Do they need professional liability insurance? It depends on the nature of the business really. Think of this type of policy as more for someone providing consulting services. if you confine your services to regular cleaning (mopping, dusting, cleaning…), you won’t need it. However, if you provide advice to customers on how to clean themselves then you will need professional liability insurance in case your advice turns out to be wrong (for instance recommending the wrong type or amount of cleaning product that results in discoloring their carpet.

Conclusion

We covered some of the biggest reasons why your cleaning company needs liability insurance, but there is one more important one you need to consider. It will give your customers peace of mind knowing they are dealing with a professional company.