House cleaning insurance: what changes when you clean homes instead of offices
Cleaning houses and cleaning offices are the same work and two different risks. In an office the danger is a slip and a paperwork requirement. In a home it is the client's belongings — and nobody is going to ask you for proof until it is too late.
The short answer
Residential cleaning carries a different risk profile than commercial. Nobody hands you an insurance requirement, so most house cleaners operate with nothing — and the loss that actually happens is damage to a client's possessions, which is the one thing a basic liability policy tends to exclude.
Three exposures belong to homes specifically: the client's movable belongings, the accusation of theft, and the keys and alarm codes you are holding for a dozen households. Only the first is an insurance question with a clean answer. The other two are handled by a bond and by your contract.
And one assumption to check early: a homeowners policy does not cover a cleaning business run from home, and a family member you pay is generally an employee in Washington. Both of those turn into expensive surprises rather than gradual problems.
Washington State Department of Revenue — Business license processing fees
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — 2026 rates by class code
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — 2026 rates by class code
Commercial lines across Washington · offices in Tacoma and Auburn
Homes versus offices: the same work, two risks
An office is mostly a slip-and-fall exposure with a paperwork requirement attached. A home is mostly a property exposure with no paperwork at all. That single difference changes which coverage matters, and it explains why so many residential cleaners are uninsured while commercial ones are not.
| Cleaning offices | Cleaning homes | |
|---|---|---|
| Who asks for proof of insurance | The property manager, before you start | Almost nobody, ever |
| The claim that happens most | Someone slips on a wet floor | You damage something the client owns |
| What is at stake reputationally | One contract | A referral network — which is how you got every client |
| Who is present while you work | Usually nobody | Sometimes the client, sometimes a dog, sometimes a child |
| What you are holding | A badge or a fob | House keys and alarm codes for a dozen families |
Why "nobody asks" is the real problem
Requirements create coverage. Commercial cleaners are insured because buildings refuse to let them in otherwise. Residential cleaners are uninsured because a homeowner hiring by referral never thinks to ask — right up until something breaks and they ask who is paying for it.
The loss that actually happens
It is not a catastrophe. It is a television coming off a wall bracket, a chemical dulling a stone counter, a vacuum catching the edge of a rug, a framed photograph. Individually these are a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, which in this trade is a week or a month of profit.
And the policy usually does not pay for it
Because the standard general liability form excludes damage to personal property in your care, custody or control — the movable things you were handling. A cleaning business handles the client's movable things as its entire job, so the exclusion lands squarely on the work.
What closes it
Bailee coverage, on a separate inland marine policy. Not an endorsement — the exclusion cannot be deleted from a liability policy by anyone. It is not automatic and a certificate will never reveal whether you have it. The care, custody and control article covers exactly how the exclusion reads and where the line falls.
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The accusation of theft
A ring goes missing. It may have been misplaced, and often it was. That does not matter much, because in a business grown entirely through referrals, the accusation travels through the same network the work did. This is the exposure owners in this trade fear most, and they are right to.
What a policy does and does not do here
General liability does not cover theft by your own employee. A janitorial bond does — it pays the client, and then the surety recovers from you. So the bond protects the relationship rather than your money, which is a fair thing to buy as long as you know which one you are buying.
The part insurance cannot fix
Documentation does more for you here than coverage. Who was in the home, when, and what the check-out routine was. A bond settles a claim; a log is what keeps an unfounded accusation from becoming one. How the bond actually works is worth reading before you promise anyone you are bonded.
Keys, codes and pets
Three exposures nobody quotes for and every residential cleaner carries. You are holding physical access to a dozen households, you are entering homes with animals in them, and you are sometimes alone in a house with a child present. None of that is unusual in this trade and all of it belongs in your written agreement.
What to put in the client agreement
How keys and codes are stored, who has access to them, what happens if a key is lost, and what you do if a pet is loose or aggressive. It is a short paragraph and it is the cheapest risk management available to a business this size.
Running it from your own house
Most cleaning businesses start in a garage, and most owners assume the homeowners policy stretches to cover it. It does not. Homeowners policies exclude business pursuits, so the supplies, the commercial machines and the work itself all sit outside the only policy you currently have.
The three things that fall outside it
- Equipment and inventory. A homeowners policy has a low cap on business property and may exclude it entirely.
- The drive to the job. A personal auto policy generally will not answer for a vehicle in business use.
- Anything that happens at a client's home. That is liability arising from your business, which is precisely what is excluded.
Your first employee, including family
This is the moment the business changes legally. In Washington, if you pay someone and direct their work, that is generally employment — and workers' compensation becomes mandatory from the first hour, purchased from L&I rather than from any agency. The family relationship does not change that.
What it costs, concretely
Janitorial work is risk class 6602, and for 2026 the rate is $1.6799 per hour worked, up 4% from $1.6098. Over a full-time year that is roughly $3,490 per cleaner — and $0.36515 of each hour is the worker's share, which you are allowed to withhold.
What it does not buy you
L&I covers your worker's injury and nothing else. It does not touch the client's television, the slip in the hallway or the van. Those need the policies on our business insurance page, and the state side is explained on the workers' compensation page. If you want the whole picture first, start here, then get a quote or talk to us.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need insurance to clean houses if I work alone?
Nobody will make you, and that is exactly why most solo house cleaners have none. General liability is still the sensible purchase: working alone does not reduce the chance of knocking a television off a wall, it just removes anyone else to blame.
My helper is my sister. Does she count as an employee?
If you pay her and direct her work, Washington generally treats that as employment regardless of the family relationship. That means an L&I account and a rate per hour worked. It is the assumption that costs small cleaning businesses the most money when it turns out to be wrong.
What happens if a client accuses my cleaner of stealing?
A liability policy does not answer for theft by your own employee — that is what a bond does, and the bond pays the client and then bills you. The harder cost is reputational: in a business built on referrals, the accusation alone can do more damage than the claim.
Am I responsible if I break something in a client's home?
Yes, and this is where most house cleaners discover the gap. You are responsible, and your general liability policy probably excludes the item — because it was in your care when it broke. The exclusion is fixable, but not by default.
Does my homeowners policy cover my cleaning business?
No. A homeowners policy covers a residence, and it excludes business pursuits. Storing commercial supplies at home, driving to jobs, and the work itself all sit outside it. This is one of the most common uninsured setups in the trade.
What about the client's dog, or their alarm code?
Both are real exposures nobody quotes for. A dog bite at a house you are cleaning may involve your liability as well as the homeowner's, and holding keys and codes for a dozen homes is a responsibility worth naming in your contract, not just in your phone.
Keep reading
Sources
- Washington State Department of Revenue — Business license processing fees.
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — 2026 hourly rates by risk classification code and fund.
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — Risk class lookup.
- International Risk Management Institute — Care, custody or control exclusion in the CGL.
This article is general information about insurance in the state of Washington. It is not legal advice and it is not an offer of coverage. Whether a policy covers a given loss depends on its own wording, its endorsements and its exclusions; read yours, or send it to us and we will read it with you. Anel Galicia is a licensed insurance producer in the state of Washington.