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Security and cleaning contractors
A commercial cleaning company usually needs public liability, employers’ liability if it has staff, and cover for client keys and property in its care. Cleaners work inside other people’s buildings with chemicals, water and access codes, so small mistakes can turn into large claims.
Part of: Public liability insurance
In short
Most cleaning contractors buy employers’ liability, which is compulsory for most employers at a minimum of £5 million, and public liability, which almost every client contract requires. The usual gaps are damage to the surfaces and items you are cleaning, which many policies limit or exclude, the cost of changing locks after lost keys, and theft by staff, which needs crime or fidelity cover. COSHH requires a suitable and sufficient assessment before staff use hazardous products, and insurers ask how you manage chemicals, training and supervision. Cover is subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms.
| Cover | What it is for | Points to check |
|---|---|---|
| Employers’ liability | Injury or illness suffered by your staff, including from chemicals | Compulsory for most employers; how agency and self-employed cleaners are treated |
| Public liability | Injury to visitors and damage to client property | Limit set by contracts; any exclusion for property being worked on |
| Damage to property worked on | Floors, carpets, fixtures and equipment you are cleaning | Often limited or excluded; may need an extension |
| Loss of keys | Replacing locks after client keys or fobs are lost or stolen | Sub-limits and key control conditions |
| Employee dishonesty | Theft by your staff from client premises | Usually crime or fidelity cover, not public liability |
| Tools and equipment | Machines, scrubbers and pressure washers | Theft from vehicles conditions |
Most of these can sit in one combined liability policy with extensions. The details matter more than the headline limit.
Public liability is the main defence against two everyday claims: a visitor slipping on a wet floor, and damage to the client’s building.
Slip claims usually turn on what you did to warn and protect people: signs, cordons, timing and dry mopping. The client’s position as occupier is covered in our guide to the Occupiers’ Liability Acts, and the client will often look to you if your work created the hazard.
Damage claims are where wording catches people out. Many liability policies exclude or limit damage to the property you are working on, on the basis that faulty workmanship is a business risk. A cleaner who etches a marble floor with an acidic product, or soaks a server room carpet, may find that part of the loss is not covered.
Illustrative: an evening cleaner leaves a tap running in an upper floor kitchen and water comes through the ceiling of the floor below, damaging tenants’ equipment. The damage to the neighbouring floor is a typical public liability claim. The kitchen itself, where the work was being done, may fall under a property worked upon exclusion, depending on the wording.
Out of hours cleaning means holding keys, fobs and alarm codes for many clients. Three things go wrong:
Insurers ask how keys are labelled, who can sign them out, how quickly losses are reported, and how you vet staff.
Cleaning products are among the most common hazardous substances at work. Under regulation 6 of the COSHH Regulations 2002, an employer must not carry out work liable to expose employees to a substance hazardous to health until it has made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk and put the necessary measures in place. The assessment must be reviewed regularly, and employers with five or more employees must record its significant findings.
HSE’s COSHH guidance explains the wider duty to plan, manage and monitor hazardous substances. In practice that means safety data sheets, the right gloves and ventilation, training on dilution, and never mixing products. Our COSHH explainer summarises the rules.
Poor COSHH controls matter for insurance because skin and breathing conditions can lead to employers’ liability claims years later, and insurers ask for your assessments when pricing the risk.
HSE guidance on the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 sets a minimum of £5 million, with fines of up to £2,500 for each day without suitable cover. HSE says that tax status does not decide who is an employee: control over the work does. Self-employed cleaners who work your rota with your materials may count as employees for this purpose.
Tell the insurer about agency workers and labour supplied by other firms, and check that any subcontractor has its own employers’ and public liability cover. Lone working at night, manual handling and slips on wet floors are the usual staff injury risks.
High level dusting, atrium glass, signage and gutter work all count as work at height. HSE defines this as work anywhere a person could fall a distance liable to cause injury if no precautions were in place, and says ladders should be used for light work of short duration. Many cleaning policies restrict height or exclude specialist work such as roped access unless declared. Window cleaner insurance explains how insurers treat height.
Contracts with facilities managers and landlords often include indemnities, minimum limits and certificate requirements. See facilities management insurance for how those clauses interact with your policy.
Apex arranges insurance for cleaning contractors, subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms. A broker reads each enquiry and comes back with options, and there is no fee for a quote. We need your business activities, turnover, location and claims history, plus the types of premises you clean, any specialist or height work, headcount and employment status, how you control keys and COSHH, and the limits your contracts require.
Usually employers’ liability, which is compulsory for most employers, and public liability, which clients almost always require. Many cleaning firms add loss of keys, damage to property being worked on, crime or fidelity cover for staff dishonesty, and equipment cover. The right mix depends on the premises you clean and your contracts.
No law requires public liability for cleaners, but commercial clients, facilities managers and landlords nearly always ask for it, often with a minimum limit. Employers’ liability is different: it is compulsory for most employers, with a minimum of £5 million and fines of up to £2,500 a day for being uninsured.
Not always. Many liability policies exclude or limit damage to the property you are working on, such as a floor damaged by the wrong chemical. Some insurers offer an extension for this. Check the wording, because damage elsewhere in the building is usually treated differently.
Public liability does not usually cover theft by your own staff. Crime or fidelity insurance is designed for employee dishonesty, and some cleaning policies include a limited extension. Insurers usually expect vetting of new staff and prompt reporting, and cover depends on the policy terms and how the loss is proved.
Yes, where staff may be exposed to hazardous substances. Regulation 6 of the COSHH Regulations 2002 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment before the work starts, regular review, and a written record of significant findings for employers with five or more employees. Insurers often ask to see it.
Tell us what your business does, your turnover and any claims. A broker reads every enquiry and comes back with options. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start a commercial enquiry Request a callbackApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
