Having quality insurance for a cleaning business keeps your operation running even if something goes wrong. There are a lot of great companies out there offering insurance, but the best cleaning insurance companies offer convenience for quoting and policy management, 24/7 services, and a strong liability policy that can be customized to fit your job requirements.
After surveying over a dozen leading providers, we found the six best cleaning business insurance companies and named The Hartford best overall.
- The Hartford: Best overall for cleaning business insurance
- Simply Business: Best for saving money by comparing quotes
- ERGO – Next Insurance: Best for maid services
- Insurance Canopy: Best for home-based janitorial businesses
- Thimble: Best for new businesses
- Hiscox: Best for exterior cleaning companies
- Best Cleaning Business Insurance Companies Compared
- The Hartford: Best Overall for Cleaning Business Insurance
- Simply Business: Best for Saving Money by Comparing Quotes
- ERGO – Next Insurance: Best for Maid Services
- Insurance Canopy: Best for Home-based Janitorial Businesses
- Thimble: Best for New Businesses
- Hiscox: Best for Exterior Cleaning Companies
- Our Methodology
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Bottom Line
Best Cleaning Business Insurance Companies Compared
| Company | Quote Process | Policy Purchase Process | Availability | Instant Certificate of Insurance (COI) | Financial Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Online or through an agent | Through an agent | 24/7 call center | ✓ | A+ (Superior) |
| Get a quote From The Hartford | |||||
 | Online or through an agent | Online or through an agent | Mon-Fri, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. | ✓ | A to A+ (Excellent to Superior) |
| Get a quote From Simply Business | |||||
 | Online or through an agent | Online or through an agent | Mon-Fri, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. CT | ✓ | A- (Excellent) |
| Get a quote From ERGO - Next Insurance | |||||
 | Online or through an agent | Online or through an agent | Mon-Fri, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. ET | ✓ | A- (Excellent) to A+ (Superior) |
| Get a quote From Insurance Canopy | |||||
 | Online or through app | Online or through app | Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET | ✓ | A- to A (Excellent) |
| Get a quote From Thimble | |||||
 | Online or via agent | Online or via agent | Mon-Fri 7 a.m.-10 p.m. ET | ✓ | A (Excellent) |
| Get a quote From Hiscox | |||||
The Hartford: Best Overall for Cleaning Business Insurance
The Hartford is our best overall provider for cleaning business insurance. It scored the highest because of its strong financial position, high customer satisfaction scores, convenient online options, and the variety of policies it offers.
While The Hartford and Simply Business scored the same, The Hartford won because it is a provider. This means it handles coverage, customer service, and claims, making it a one-stop shop for the life of your policy. However, if you’re looking for a way to shop and compare insurance prices, check out Simply Business.
While The Hartford provides online quotes, we could not get one for this review despite several attempts. To request a quote, you can also call and speak with an agent. Customers pay about $67 monthly for a general liability policy.
The Hartford offers a wide variety of policies for your cleaning business. It provides general liability for cleaning businesses, covering property damage, bodily injury, and personal injury, such as slander. If you have any property you wish to insure, it offers a business owner’s policy (BOP) that combines property with liability. Additional policies, such as auto and umbrella, are also available.
The Hartford has lower-than-average complaints with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). It offers a great digital insurance experience: online quotes, online policy management, and instant certificates of insurance (COI).
Simply Business: Best for Saving Money by Comparing Quotes
Simply Business is an online insurance brokerage that specializes in helping small businesses find insurance. It works with over 15 different providers for cleaning business insurance. Its strength is in its ability to generate multiple quotes with coverage details that you can compare. You can also adjust limits on the quotes, and it will regenerate the updated cost in real time. You can purchase a policy online or call and speak with an agent.
If you prefer to have one source for your policy, customer service, and claims needs, consider a provider like The Hartford or ERGO – Next Insurance.
For our research in this article, we received four quotes. The prices ranged from $108 to $152 monthly. Like most providers, you can pay monthly or annually. All of the quotes were for a general liability policy with a $1 million per occurrence and a $2 million aggregate limit, along with tools and equipment available.
Simply Business offers insurance in all 50 states, and you can purchase the policy online or over the phone. Once you purchase insurance, you’ll have access to an online account to manage your account. To file a claim, you will need to contact the provider that handles the policy directly.
Simply Business is owned by Travelers but works with multiple carriers. For this article, the cheapest quote came from American Builders Insurance Company, and the most expensive one was from Harborway Insurance.
Its customers are happy with their experience. On Trustpilot,[1] there are over 1,200 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
ERGO – Next Insurance: Best for Maid Services
Operating a cleaning business in someone’s home carries a unique set of risks. Fortunately, dedicated small business insurer Next has customized coverage specifically for residential and maid service cleaning businesses.
Its coverages are in line with the type of risk your business is exposed to, and if there is a loss, ERGO – Next Insurance has done a lot to emphasize a convenient claim experience. It promises 48-hour decisions on claims and has developed a mobile app that allows you to file a claim and check the claim status.
If your primary interest is in saving money, check out Simply Business, where you can compare quotes from multiple providers. If you want to stick with one provider but prefer one that is always available, consider The Hartford, with its 24/7 loss services.
Next offers three tiers of insurance for cleaning businesses: Basic, Premier, and Deluxe. The difference among each tier came down to whether there was coverage for your tools and equipment and how much coverage was available.
- The Basic tier was liability-only, with a $2 million aggregate limit and a monthly cost of $210.17.
- The Premier tier’s quote had the same level of liability but included $5,000 for tools and equipment and cost $250.59 monthly.
- The Deluxe tier had the same liability limit but included $10,000 for tools and $10,000 for office space property, costing $337.59 monthly.
These prices are higher than the average cost of a janitorial business with Next. 70% of its policyholders pay between $41 and $50 monthly.
Overall, Next has lower than the national average complaints with the NAIC.
An insurtech company, Next has put the digital experience at the forefront. You can do everything via the website and the app: get a quote, buy and manage a policy, file a claim, and get instant COIs. Adding an insured to your policy is also quick and easy; no matter how many you add, it costs nothing.
Insurance Canopy: Best for Home-based Janitorial Businesses
Out of all the providers we evaluated, Insurance Canopy is the most affordable option. Insurance starts at $26.67 monthly or $320 annually. The low cost, however, doesn’t translate to less quality, as the services are comparable with the larger legacy carriers.
Insurance Canopy is a natural fit for businesses that operate out of their home or rent an office space. It doesn’t offer commercial property coverage to protect your building, but through inland marine, you can insure your tools and equipment, and with general liability, you can purchase protection for any rented space.
Its coverage lets you operate your business safely from your home, and the lack of overhead, coupled with its affordability, can translate into great savings for your cleaning business.
Similar to Thimble, Insurance Canopy allows you to manage your policy, but claims will be handled by the carrier that underwrites the policy. If you’d prefer one place for all of these services, consider any providers: Next, The Hartford, or Hiscox.
We received a quote for cleaning business insurance for $63.08 monthly. This was for a policy that included liability and inland marine coverage. It had $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate liability coverage, $5,000 for equipment coverage, and $10,000 for tool coverage. The property had a deductible of only $250, and inland marine is offered tiered limits of $3,000, $6,000, and $10,000.
The quoting process is quick and easy: answer a few questions, and in less than 10 minutes, you get a quote and purchase coverage.
While it only has weekday availability, you have 24/7 online access to your policy and COIs. Through the dashboard, you can also file a claim.
Thimble: Best for New Businesses
Finding insurance for a new business can be challenging because providers use your business’ history to assess the risk of insuring you. Unlike other insurers, Thimble does not review information on when the business was founded, previous years’ revenue, years of experience, and payroll.
This makes it an ideal provider if your cleaning business is brand new. Its model is to partner with new businesses, including offering short-term liability. You can upgrade policies as the business grows.
Thimble is similar to a broker in that it doesn’t handle any claims once you purchase the policy. If you want a one-stop shop for all of your policy needs, a carrier like Hiscox is a great option, similar to Thimble in its hours of operation, quick quote, and COI generation.
We were provided a quote for $196.10 monthly, with $392.20 due on the first day. This coverage was for a BOP that included $1 million in total liability, $100,000 in property for a building, $5,000 for the contents, and $2,500 for equipment.
This cost is higher than the average amount paid by its customers. Cleaning business insurance costs customers between $6 and $38 a month.
Since Thimble is a managing general agent (MGA), there are no complaints with the NAIC. On Trustpilot,[2] Thimble has 4.4 stars with nearly 2,000 reviews.
It offers short-term liability, so you can conveniently get insurance by the hour, day, or month. Quotes are available online or on its mobile app, which is available on iOS and Android devices. You can also manage your policy and get instant COIs online or through the app.
Hiscox: Best for Exterior Cleaning Companies
Hiscox is an insurer that sells only to small businesses. It’s a great option for cleaning businesses focused on exterior cleaning. Dryer vents, power washing, and window cleaning are some eligible classes it wants to insure. An advantage of using Hiscox is that it is a dedicated small-business insurer, meaning all of its employees, including underwriters, customer service specialists, and claims adjusters, understand small businesses.
One downside to Hiscox is that when you are getting a quote online, it will often present lower limits than if you call. It also doesn’t operate a 24/7 call center. If you’d prefer to work with a carrier that can generate online quotes with higher limits and is available 24/7, check out The Hartford.
After answering a few simple questions, we received a quote for a general liability policy for a cleaning business that costs $233.25 monthly or one annual payment of $3,100.
If you choose the monthly option, Hiscox requests a two-month down payment, and then there will be 10 monthly payments. It does not charge fees for the monthly payment option. This quote is higher than the average cost for janitorial services insurance, which starts at $22.50 a month.
The limit for this policy was $300,000 in total general liability (both occurrence and aggregate limit). If you wish, you can add business property as an endorsement to its general liability.
Hiscox is available in all 49 states (no coverage in Alaska), although coverage varies by state. You can manage your policy online, file a claim, and generate an instant COI. Conveniently, for some industries, same-day coverage is available and can be purchased online.
Its customer service has been on a journey of improvement. Historically, it has experienced a high level of complaints. Things were trending in the right direction, but the most recent data from the NAIC shows a high level of complaints again.
However, customer reviews on its website[3] show that it has 4.8 out of 5 stars from around 1,300 verified customer reviews.
Our Methodology
We determined which insurance companies would be the best for your cleaning business through our in-house proprietary evaluation system. In our evaluation, we focused on the customer’s needs. We also paid particular interest to convenience, financial ratings (AM Best), customer service, types of policies offered, and the overall experience as a policyholder for a specific provider.
Most people only care about insurance when they need it. We wanted to ensure that we recommend something that, should that moment come, you’ll feel comfortable with purchasing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Cleaning business insurance is primarily general liability and property coverage. The general liability covers claims that your business operations caused injury or damaged a customer’s property. Property coverage covers your tools and equipment.
If you need a bond, a surety bond would work for a cleaning business. This acts as a financial guarantee that if something goes wrong because of your business, the bond will pay a specified amount of money.
Cleaning insurance will range from $300 to $4,500 annually. The cost is based on different factors like the size of your business and the types of facilities you clean. Even whether your business waxes floors or cleans windows on a second floor will be factored into the total insurance cost.
Bottom Line
Cleaning business insurance combines policies that protect your business from negligence claims and safeguard your assets from named perils. When it comes to the best janitorial insurance companies, The Hartford is the best overall.
User review references:
1Trustpilot | Simply Business
2Trustpilot | Thimble
3Hiscox Customer Reviews
