Commercial cleaning insurance that helps you win the contract

Who we insure

Commercial cleaning covers a lot of ground. A two-person crew with three dental offices and a 120-person contractor running night shifts in office towers both need janitorial insurance, but they don't need the same policy. Start with the buildings you clean.

Office & janitorial servicesNight crews, day porters and multi-tenant buildings where you carry keys and alarm codes. Medical offices & clinicsExam rooms, waiting areas and stricter disinfection routines. Schools & campusesDistrict and campus contracts with set limits, bonds and background checks. Industrial & warehousesPlants and distribution centers with heavier machines and site safety rules. Carpet, floor & window cleaningSpecialty services that bring extractors, strippers and ground-level window work. Cleaning franchise ownersFranchise agreements that spell out the coverage you must carry.

Bidding a building with strict insurance terms?

Property managers, school districts and facility managers usually decide whether you're qualified before they compare prices. The insurance exhibit in a contract or RFP is where they do it. A typical exhibit for a cleaning contractor asks for some mix of these:

• General liability at a set limit per occurrence and in aggregate
• Workers' comp with employer's liability, and proof you carry it
• Commercial auto, including hired and non-owned auto
• An umbrella that sits on top of those limits
• A janitorial bond in a stated amount
• Additional insured status, often with primary and non-contributory wording and a waiver of subrogation
• A certificate of insurance that matches all of the above before your start date

Our team reads the exhibit with you, then compares carriers that can meet it. If a requirement doesn't fit your company yet, we'll tell you plainly so you can negotiate it before you sign. The contracts guide walks through each line. Get a quote for your cleaning business →

Where claims come from in commercial cleaning

Cleaning claims rarely start with anything dramatic. They start with an ordinary task in someone else's building, done after hours, by a crew working without a client watching. Three examples show how different policies come into play.

Example scenario: the lobby floor

A day porter mops a building entrance during a rainy lunch rush. The wet-floor sign gets moved by a delivery cart, and a tenant falls and fractures a wrist. The tenant's claim against your company would normally go to your general liability policy. Your contract with the property manager may also require you to defend the owner, which is where additional insured wording matters. How GL responds

Example scenario: the missing laptop

A law firm reports a laptop missing after a night clean. Weeks later, police connect it to a recently hired crew member. The firm wants to be repaid. Your janitorial bond or a crime policy with clients' property coverage is where that request usually goes, not your liability policy. What a janitorial bond does

Example scenario: the master key

A supervisor's key ring, including a building master key, goes missing between two sites. The property manager insists every lock on six floors be re-keyed and sends you the bill. Some cleaning programs offer lost key coverage for exactly this; many basic liability policies don't. Lost key coverage

Carriers we work with include

Each carrier we work with is rated A- (Excellent) or better by AM Best. More about our carriers

Carrier names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. Not all carriers write in every state.

Coverage that keeps up as you grow

The first contract that asks for a certificate usually means general liability and a bond. The first W-2 hire brings workers' comp and payroll audits. A cargo van adds commercial auto, and crew members driving their own cars add hired and non-owned auto. Then the bigger buildings arrive: a property manager with 30 sites who wants a $2 million umbrella, a school district that wants proof of background checks, a regional clinic group with its own vendor portal. Each step changes what you need, and what you pay.

That's why we ask about where you're headed, not only where you are. If you're bidding a bigger account this spring, tell us. Lining up limits, bonds and endorsements before the bid is due is far easier than scrambling after you win it. Starting out? Read this first

What underwriters ask a cleaning company

Before a carrier prices janitorial insurance, it wants a clear picture of how your company actually works. Expect questions like these, and have the answers ready:

• Your services. Routine janitorial work is priced differently from floor stripping, carpet extraction or post-construction cleanup.
• Your facilities. Offices, medical offices, schools and industrial sites carry different exposures and different contract terms.
• Your payroll split. How much goes to office staff, supervisors and the crews doing the cleaning, because workers' comp is rated on payroll by job type.
• Keys and access. Whether crews carry keys, access cards or alarm codes, and how you track them.
• Hiring practices. Background checks, training and how quickly new hires go out unsupervised.
• Chemicals. What you use and how much of your work involves them. Our quote form asks about this directly.
• Subcontractors. Whether you hand any buildings to other crews, and whether you collect their certificates.
• Vehicles. Company vans, and employees who drive their own cars for work.
• Claims history. Carriers commonly ask for several years of loss runs from your past insurers.

Clear answers usually mean faster quotes and fewer surprises at audit time. If you don't have something, like loss runs from a past carrier, a licensed agent can help you request it. Get a quote for your cleaning business →

A bond and crime coverage are two different things

Owners often assume a janitorial bond protects their company. It doesn't, at least not directly. A janitorial bond is a promise to your client: if one of your employees steals from them, the client has a way to recover the loss, often only after the employee is convicted, depending on the bond form. That's why clients ask for it by name and by dollar amount.

Crime coverage works the other way around. An employee dishonesty or employee theft policy protects your company when an employee steals from you, and many crime policies can be extended to cover clients' property too. Some cleaning companies carry both: the bond because contracts require it, and crime coverage so a single bad hire doesn't come out of their own pocket.

Which you need depends on your contracts and how much access your crews have. Our team can walk you through both before you commit to either. How crime coverage works for cleaning companies