Do I Need Public Liability Insurance As A Cleaner?

Are you considering starting a cleaning business and are wondering whether you need public liability insurance?

After all, operating as a cleaner comes with certain risks, including personal injury and property damage.  

That’s right. Slip and fall claims along with property damage due to the use of cleaning solvents are recurring issues for cleaners.

That’s why in Australia, all cleaning businesses need to hold public liability insurance.

In this post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about public liability insurance as a cleaning business.

What Does Public Liability Insurance Cover For Cleaners?

Public liability insurance covers claims made by a third party against you and usually includes damages and legal fees.

As an Australian business, here are the two main risks you can protect yourself and your business against:

• The risk of causing damage to your clients' property
• The risk of causing injury (or death) to another person such as your client or another third party

But what does that mean exactly?

Let’s say you are cleaning one of your client’s houses and accidentally spill some cleaning product on the floor leading to your client slipping and hurting themselves, and then making a legal claim against your business. Depending on the type of public liability insurance you choose, your policy might cover the medical costs and potential legal fees involved with your client’s claim.

Public liability insurance was designed to protect you as a small business owner, or a self-employed contractor against costly and stressful claims.

What Levels of Cover Are Available?

In Australia, the minimum cover available regarding public liability insurance is $5 million. Now, most insurers offer three levels of cover, including $5 million, $10 million, and $20 million. However, there is no set maximum limit, meaning that you could potentially take a $50 million policy if you felt like you needed to (and if it were available!).

So how much is enough for you?

Well, the level of cover you need highly depends on the size of your business and the level of risk involved with your cleaning activities.

For instance, a $5 million policy may be enough if you operate a small home cleaning business. However, if you have an office and a few employees, and operate large commercial cleaning contracts, $10 million or $20 million might be more appropriate. It's important to evaluate the risk yourself before determining how much cover you need.

Also, certain clients, such as shopping centres, might have specific minimum requirements for cleaners. Therefore, you’ll need to consider this when choosing the coverage amount for your public liability insurance.

How To Find The Best Public Liability Insurance For Cleaners?

As a professional cleaner, you might be too busy working on your business to spend time researching the perfect option for you.

We get it.

That’s why at upcover, we make it easy for cleaners to get quotes on market-leading insurance within seconds. So, if you’re wondering where to get started with securing your public liability insurance, don’t hesitate to use our instant quote generator. It was designed to provide you with quotes instantly and allow you to secure your cover within minutes.