TivloYou've submitted your tender. Everything looks strong. Then the facilities manager sends back a list of compliance questions. Near the top: proof of public liability insurance, minimum £5 million. Your policy runs to £2 million.
You don't win the contract.
Insurance requirements in commercial cleaning are not uniform. Different clients set different thresholds, and some sectors (NHS, education, local authority) have requirements that go well beyond what a small cleaning company carries by default. Understanding what you need, and why, saves expensive gaps at exactly the wrong moment.
The Core Policies Every Cleaning Business Needs
Employers' Liability Insurance
This is a legal requirement if you employ anyone, even one person on a part-time basis. The minimum limit is £5 million, though most policies are issued at £10 million as standard. The certificate must be displayed at your workplace or made available to employees electronically.
Employers' liability covers claims made by employees for injuries or illness caused by their work. In cleaning, this includes slips, chemical exposure and musculoskeletal injuries from manual handling.
Failure to hold valid employers' liability insurance is a criminal offence. The HSE can issue fines of up to £2,500 per day without it.
Public Liability Insurance
Public liability is not a legal requirement, but it is a commercial requirement for almost every cleaning contract. It covers claims made by third parties (typically your clients or their visitors) for property damage or personal injury caused by your work.
If a member of your team leaves a wet floor without a warning sign and a client's visitor falls, public liability responds to the claim.
Standard limits in the cleaning industry are:
- •£1-2 million: basic; may not satisfy larger commercial clients
- •£5 million: commonly required by commercial landlords, office operators and facilities managers
- •£10 million: required by some NHS trusts, local authorities and large corporate clients
When you're tendering for new work, read the specification carefully. The required limit will usually be stated. If it's higher than your current cover, a mid-term increase is straightforward: call your broker.
Employers' Liability and Public Liability: The Practical Difference
Employers' liability is for claims by your staff. Public liability is for claims by everyone else. Both are essential. In practice, the policy is often sold as a combined package.
Policies Worth Considering for Growing Businesses
Professional Indemnity
Professional indemnity (PI) covers claims arising from professional advice or services: the allegation that you did something wrong and the client suffered a financial loss as a result.
In cleaning, this is most relevant if you provide consultancy, assessments or training alongside your cleaning service. If you're purely delivering cleaning, PI is less critical, but some clients include it in their insurance requirements regardless.
For businesses bidding for facilities management contracts that include advisory elements, PI cover is worth carrying.
Products Liability
If you supply cleaning products to clients, or if a claim arises from a product you used during a clean, products liability may apply. This is sometimes bundled with public liability and sometimes listed separately in policy wording. Check your schedule carefully.
Contractors' All Risks
If your team carries specialist equipment or works on client premises with high-value assets (art, specialist flooring, sensitive environments), a contractors' all-risk policy covers damage to equipment and third-party property. Standard public liability may not cover all scenarios.
Business Interruption
Not required for contracts, but worth considering for the business itself. If you lose access to your premises, your vehicles or your equipment, business interruption cover replaces lost income while you recover.
What Clients Actually Check
When a procurement team asks for certificates, they typically want to see:
- •The policy schedule showing the type of cover and limits
- •The insured name matching your company name exactly (trading names sometimes cause issues)
- •A valid expiry date (certificates that have lapsed cause immediate disqualification)
- •The insurer's name (some public sector bodies maintain approved insurer lists)
Some clients, particularly NHS trusts and local authority frameworks, will ask for certificates to name them as an interested party. This is standard practice and your insurer can add endorsements. There is usually a small admin fee.
Common Gaps That Cost Contracts
Lapsed certificates. The most common issue. Your insurance auto-renews but the new certificate hasn't been sent to all your active contracts. Keep a log of who holds your certificate and update them on renewal. Better still, keep certificates in a shared location your team can access.
Mismatched company names. If you trade as "ABC Cleaning" but your registered company is "ABC Facilities Limited," the certificate needs to match what the client expects. A note from your insurer confirming the trading name usually resolves this, but it takes time.
Below-minimum limits. As covered above, check the specification before submitting a tender. A mid-term increase is easier than losing a contract.
Gaps in cover for subcontractors. If you use subbies (subcontractors), check whether your policy covers their work. Many standard policies exclude work done by uninsured subcontractors. If you use subbies regularly, make sure they hold their own public liability cover and take copies of their certificates before they work on your contracts.
Annual Insurance Review
Insurance requirements in the market change over time, and so does your business. At each renewal:
- •Review your limits against the contracts you hold and those you're bidding for
- •Check that your policy schedule accurately reflects your activities (some policies have sector exclusions: healthcare, food environments and working at height)
- •Update your broker on any changes to your business: new depots, new services, significant headcount changes
- •Ensure all certificates are distributed to clients who require them
The cost difference between £2 million and £5 million public liability cover is typically small. The cost of losing a contract because your limit doesn't meet the specification is not.
Tivlo is building document and compliance management tools specifically for cleaning businesses, so things like insurance certificates are visible, shareable and never expire without someone noticing. Take the Tivlo Cleaning Business Scorecard to see where your business stands on client management and compliance.
Ready to see what a client portal looks like for a cleaning company? Join the waitlist at tivlo.app.