Cleaners insurance

What is business insurance for cleaners?

As a cleaner, your clients place you in a position of trust to treat their property and belongings with care. Business insurance is a way to ensure that if something unfortunate should happen while you’re cleaning a client’s home or business, you’ve got the protection there to handle any claims.

Public liability is the backbone of most business insurance policies for cleaners, protecting you from the consequences of accidental injury, property damage, and compensation claims that might happen.

You might also consider employer’s liability insurance if your business is expanding, and you take on more people. For cleaners, the most common type of claim that could occur is due to slips and trips.

Why do I need insurance for my cleaning business?

No matter where you’re working, you’re going to be interacting with customers and potentially other people and you need insurance to protect you. While it’s not a legal requirement, you stand to lose more than your money if a claim is made against you, and you’re not protected.

Here are some examples of the types of incidents that could leave you seriously out of pocket if you don’t have cover like public liability in place:

• Your client, employee, or a member of the public slips on your newly washed floor
• A member of the public trips over the cable from your hoover
• You accidentally drop something on an expensive computer
• You spill something in your customer's home
• You accidentally scratch or smash a client's window
• Your equipment is damaged or stolen during a cleaning job

What type of cleaning businesses do you cover?

Thanks to our range of business insurance products, we can insure a wide range of cleaning businesses, including:

• Domestic cleaners

Cleaning private homes can involve working around valuable belongings and occupied spaces, making public liability cover important.

• Carpet and curtain cleaners

Deep cleaning carpets, curtains, and soft furnishings may involve specialist equipment or treatments. If this is your main trade, you can also explore our carpet cleaners insurance.

• Office cleaners

Commercial cleaning usually takes place in busy workplaces, where cover can help protect you if property or equipment is damaged.

• Window cleaners^**

Cleaning external windows or working at height can carry additional risks, which is why we also offer dedicated window cleaners insurance for this type of work.

Do I need business insurance if I’m a self-employed cleaner?

Business insurance isn’t a legal requirement for self-employed cleaners; however, it is highly recommended that you consider cover.

Without business insurance of your own, you’ll be responsible for paying out any claims or legal fees from your business’ own pocket. You’ll need public liability insurance to protect you in any cases of accidental injury or damage due to your business.

If at any point you then decide to expand your business and take on employees, then employers’ liability insurance becomes mandatory by law under the Employers’ Liability Act 1969.

If you need have any equipment to get your cleaning jobs done, then you should also consider the costs involved worth repairing or replacing them if they get damaged or stolen on the job. With business equipment cover, you’d have protection for the equipment you need to keep business going.

What type of insurance do cleaners need?

There are several covers we offer that might suit your needs, any of which you can buy as a standalone product, or pair with our other covers and optional extras as and when you need them.

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance can help protect you against third-party injury or damage in these situations – helping you cover compensation costs and legal fees because of a claim. 

Here are some examples where public liability can help:

• Someone slips and injures themselves on a floor you’ve cleaned
• You’re moving things around to clean and you drop, or break, something accidentally
• You spill cleaning products – such as bleach – on a client’s furniture or floor

Busines equipment insurance

Whether you work on the small stuff, like dusting and polishing, or you’re responsible for bigger tasks that require more complex equipment, we’ve got you covered.

We know how important your equipment is for keeping your business running day-to-day. Would you be able to afford the cost of replacing them if they’re damaged or stolen? Could you continue your job without them? Not to worry, that’s where we can help.

Here are some examples where business equipment insurance can help:

• Your specialised cleaning equipment gets damaged while you’re using it on a job
• Someone steals your equipment from a site your cleaning
• The essential tech you use to create invoices and keep track of appointments gets damaged

Van insurance

If you’re traveling a lot for your cleaning jobs and need to move any machinery back and forth, you may also want to consider business van insurance to protect you on the go. This will protect your van as you move from A to B to get your jobs done.

Here are some examples where van insurance can help:

• Your van is involved in an accident during your working day
• Your equipment is stolen from you van
• You accidentally put the wrong fuel into your van

Employers' liability insurance

If you have any employees, even if that part-time or on a voluntary basis, then employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement under the Employers’ Liability Act 1969. This cover is there to protect your employees if they get accidentally injured or fall ill as a result of working for you.

Here are some examples where employers’ liability can help:

• An employee gets sick due to exposure to cleaning chemicals
• An employee gets injured while cleaning a client’s home or business

How do I get insurance for my cleaning business?

We know getting insurance for your business might sound complicated. At AXA, we’ve made it our mission to simplify the process for you, letting you get back to taking care of the messy jobs.

Simply start a quote online you’ll be one step closer to protecting your business today.

How much does cleaning insurance cost?

AXA business insurance customers pay prices from £7^*** per month for cover.

_{10% of our customers paid this or less between January and March 2026.}

The price you pay will depend on the covers you chose to take out with us, combined with some key factors about your business. The quickest and easiest way to find out what your price would be is to get a quote with us, which you can do using the button below.