The short answer
Cleaning business insurance usually starts with liability for injuries and damage at a client's site, then adds the pieces cleaners in particular need: cover for lost client keys and the cost of changing locks, a bond or crime cover for theft by staff, and protection for equipment and supplies. Vehicles and workers' compensation sit alongside it. A licensed broker matches those parts to whether you clean homes, offices or both, and who does the work.
- Residential cleaners and maid services working in clients' homes
- Commercial and janitorial contractors cleaning offices, clinics and common areas
- Owner-operators who clean alone and are about to hire a first helper
- Move-out, post-construction and deep-cleaning specialists
- Cleaning companies bidding on contracts that ask for a certificate of insurance
3 licensed brokers in the network handle this. In Alberta, Canada, a request for cleaning business insurance can be offered to up to three of them, chosen because they are licensed for this line and place. They are test brokers while we are in demo.
See the brokers → Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
Liability at client sites
A client slips on a floor you just mopped, or a bucket of solution soaks into a hardwood floor below. This is the core cover, and the limit a contract asks for often sets its size.
Damage to what you are cleaning
Many liability policies limit cover for property in your care, custody or control, which can include the rug, stone counter or electronics you were working on. Ask how the policy treats the object itself, not just the room around it.
Lost keys and lock changes
Some policies or endorsements pay to rekey or replace a client's locks, and sometimes reprogram an alarm or fob system, after keys in your care are lost or stolen. Limits and conditions vary, so ask what triggers it.
Employee dishonesty and bonding
A bond or third-party crime cover responds when a client's money or belongings are stolen by someone on your crew. Read what proof it requires before a payment is made, since some forms need more than an accusation.
Equipment and supplies
Vacuums, floor machines, carpet extractors and your stock of products, whether in a shop, a storage unit or a van. Ask whether items are covered while they sit at a client's building or travel between jobs.
Vehicles
Vans and cars that carry crews and equipment between jobs. Personal auto policies may not fit regular business driving, so describe who drives and what rides along.
Workers' compensation
In most provinces this comes from a public board, not a private insurer, and the board decides whether cleaning businesses must register. It sits beside the private policies rather than inside them.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- A list of the services you offer, with the rough split between residential and commercial work
- Annual revenue and the number of homes or buildings you clean in a typical month
- Names and roles of everyone who cleans for you, marked as employee or subcontractor
- How client keys, fobs and alarm codes are stored, tagged and returned
- The cleaning products and machines you use, including any strippers, degreasers or disinfectants
- Copies of client contracts or tenders that name insurance requirements
- Your workers' compensation account details, or the reason you do not have an account
- Vehicle details for any van or car used to move crews and equipment
- Any claims, complaints or police reports involving damage or missing items
A broker will ask
- Do you clean homes, commercial buildings or both, and which brings in more revenue?
- How many people clean for you, and are they on payroll or paid as contractors?
- Do your crews hold client keys or alarm codes, and how are those tracked?
- Do you run background checks before someone enters a client's home?
- Do you do floor stripping, carpet extraction, window work at height or post-construction cleanup?
- Have you had a claim for damage, theft or injury at a client site?
- What limit and wording do your largest contracts ask for?
- Who drives to jobs, and whose vehicles are used?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A two-person house cleaning service holding forty keys
A couple runs a residential cleaning service and holds keys and alarm codes for about forty regular clients, kept on a ring in their car. One client recently asked what would happen if that ring were ever lost or stolen.
First steps. Write down how the keys are stored, tagged and returned, because a broker will ask exactly that. Bring the client count, the kinds of alarm systems involved and your end-of-service key routine, and ask whether lock and key cover is available and what it would pay for.
A janitorial firm bidding on an office tower contract
A janitorial company with twelve staff is bidding on a nightly cleaning contract for a downtown office building. The tender asks for a higher liability limit than the company carries, the owner named as additional insured, and proof of workers' compensation coverage.
First steps. Send the broker the insurance section of the tender word for word and the date the bid closes. Ask whether the limit can be raised for this contract alone or across the whole policy, how long a certificate takes to issue, and what the owner's wording asks of you.
A cleaner accused of taking jewellery
A residential client reported a missing bracelet a week after a new crew member cleaned the house. Nothing has been proven, the client is upset, and the owner cannot decide whether to pay out of pocket or report it.
First steps. Write down the dates, who was on site and what the client reported, and keep every message. Tell your broker or insurer before offering a payment, since settling privately can affect a later claim, and ask whether the bond or crime cover needs a police report or other proof.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- Care, custody or control
- Wording that limits liability cover for property you are handling or working on at the time. For cleaners it can decide whether the damaged rug or countertop itself is paid for.
- Janitorial bond
- A bond that pays a client if one of your workers steals from them. It often sets proof requirements before it pays, and it is not the same thing as liability cover.
- Lock and key cover
- Protection that pays to rekey, replace or reprogram a client's locks and access systems after keys or fobs in your care are lost or stolen.
- Clearance letter
- A document from a workers' compensation board confirming a contractor's account is active and in good standing, which some boards use to show the hiring business is not liable for that contractor's unpaid premiums.
- Indemnity clause
- A contract term in which you agree to cover the client's losses or legal costs arising from your work. It can promise more than your policy will pay.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Treating helpers as subcontractors without checking that they carry their own liability cover and workers' compensation accounts.
- Assuming a general liability policy pays for the very item that was damaged while you were cleaning it.
- Tagging client keys with street addresses, which turns one lost key ring into a security problem for every home on it.
- Using strong strippers or mixing products without written procedures, then struggling to explain a damaged floor.
- Sending staff to jobs in their own cars without anyone telling an auto insurer that the driving is for work.
- Signing a cleaning contract with an indemnity clause that nobody has compared against the policy.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles cleaning business insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
Do I need insurance to start a cleaning business?
No single rule makes it mandatory for every cleaner, but many clients, property managers and building owners will not let you start without proof of liability cover. Workers' compensation registration may be required once you have workers, depending on your province's board, and vehicle insurance is required to drive. Bring a description of your first clients and services to a broker, who can explain which pieces apply.
What is a janitorial bond?
It is a form of fidelity or crime protection that responds when someone working for you steals from a client. Unlike most insurance, a bond can carry conditions about proof, such as a conviction or a signed admission, before it pays. Some cleaners carry one because clients ask to see it on a proposal. Ask the broker what the bond requires before it responds and whether it extends to subcontractors.
Are my subcontractors covered by my policy?
Often not in the way people assume. A policy may cover your own liability for work you hire out, while the subcontractor's mistakes and injuries are expected to fall under their insurance. Collect a certificate of insurance and proof of a workers' compensation account in good standing from each one, and ask the broker how your policy treats work done by people you pay but do not employ.
Does insurance cover lost client keys?
Some policies include it, or offer an endorsement that pays to rekey or replace locks and reprogram access systems when a client's keys are lost or stolen. It is not automatic, and a limit that suits a few houses can fall short for a commercial building with a master key system. Tell the broker how many keys and fobs you hold and for what kinds of buildings.
What if a cleaning product damages a client's surface?
That depends on how the policy treats property in your care and whether the damage came from the way the work was done. Some wordings cover resulting damage to surrounding property but not the surface being worked on. Keep a record of the products and methods used on each job, and ask the broker to explain the care, custody or control wording before you take on floor or stone work.
Do I need commercial auto insurance for a cleaning van?
If a vehicle regularly carries staff, equipment or supplies to paid jobs, the insurer needs to know, and a commercial auto policy may be the fit. Staff using their own cars for work is a separate question for their own insurers. Describe who drives, what is carried and roughly how many kilometres the business puts on each vehicle, and the broker can place it.
General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.