TL;DR
"Bonded and insured" is a marketing phrase, not a document, and it describes three different things that are often confused. Ask which coverages a company carries, ask who its insurance agent is, and confirm the answer with the agent through a certificate of insurance rather than accepting a claim on a website.
The Three Things People Mean by "Bonded and Insured"
General liability insurance covers third-party property damage and bodily injury arising from the company's work. It is the coverage most relevant to a household, because it addresses the broken lamp and the water damage rather than the missing ring.
A janitorial or surety bond is not insurance. It is a financial guarantee, and in cleaning it commonly covers theft by an employee, usually requiring a conviction or a formal finding before it pays. Its practical scope is narrower than most households assume.
Workers compensation covers injury to the company's own workers. It matters to a household because an injured worker with no coverage may look to the property owner instead, which is why it comes up at all.
A company can carry one, two, or all three. Asking which is a fair and ordinary question, and it is the first thing to establish rather than accepting the phrase itself.
What Should You Ask About General Liability?
Ask four things: which insurance carrier writes the policy, what the per-occurrence and aggregate limits are, whether the policy is current and through what date, and whether the agent can send you a certificate of insurance. Those four turn a claim into something verifiable.
Common commercial limits in this trade are one million dollars per occurrence and two million dollars aggregate, with smaller operators sometimes carrying less and buildings sometimes requiring more. Limits are a starting point rather than a verdict, because a well-run small company with modest limits can be a better choice than a poorly run large one.
Ask also whether the policy has exclusions relevant to your home, such as work at height, water damage, or specific equipment. Exclusions are normal and are worth knowing about in advance.
Source: commercial insurance industry small business coverage summaries
Who Can Actually Answer These Questions?
The company can tell you what it carries. Only the insurance agent or carrier can confirm that a policy is in force, and only they can issue a certificate. A screenshot, a badge on a website, or a verbal assurance is not confirmation of anything.
That is not a slight on cleaning companies. It is how commercial insurance works in every trade, and it is why certificates exist at all.
Request the certificate rather than debating the point, and expect it to come from the agent. The process is straightforward and is laid out in how to request a certificate of insurance.
Questions to Ask, in Order
- Do you carry general liability insurance? Then ask for the carrier name and the limits.
- Do you carry workers compensation for your employees? The answer differs for employees and contractors, which is the subject of why workers comp comes up.
- Are your workers employees or independent contractors? It changes what coverage applies and who carries it.
- Are you bonded, and what does the bond cover? Ask what triggers a payout, because most janitorial bonds require a conviction or a formal finding.
- Can your agent send me a certificate of insurance? The single most useful question on the list.
- What is your process if something is damaged? Reporting window, evidence needed, who handles it.
- Do you background-check the people who enter my home? A fair question in its own right, separate from insurance.
Seven questions take about ten minutes on a call, and they separate companies that have thought about this from companies that have not. They belong to the same vetting pass as references and written scope in hiring a cleaning service.
What the Answers Tell You
A company that answers plainly, names its carrier, and offers to have a certificate sent is telling you it deals with this regularly. That is the signal you are looking for, more than any particular limit.
A company that deflects, insists the website badge is enough, or cannot name its carrier is telling you something too. It may still be perfectly competent, but you have less to go on.
Be wary of one specific answer: "we are fully covered, do not worry about it." Coverage is a set of specific policies with specific limits and exclusions, and a company that cannot describe its own is unlikely to navigate a claim well.
What Insurance Does Not Do
Insurance does not replace a written agreement. Most household problems are scope and communication problems rather than claims, and a policy resolves none of those.
It also does not cover everything. General liability typically addresses damage caused by the company's work, not pre-existing conditions, not normal wear, and not items that were already failing. That is why documenting the home's condition before a first visit matters as much as any policy.
And a bond is narrower than it sounds. Where a household expects a bond to settle a disputed missing item quickly, the reality is usually a slower process with a high evidentiary bar, as described in how a janitorial bond claim proceeds.
Your Own Insurance Is Part of the Picture
Your homeowners or renters policy has its own view of workers in your home, and only your own carrier can tell you what it covers and what it requires. That conversation is worth having before you hire anyone rather than after an incident.
Ask your carrier specifically about damage caused by a service provider, injury to a worker in your home, and whether hiring someone directly rather than through a company changes anything. The answers vary by policy and by state.
Households comparing recurring house cleaning services should treat coverage as one factor among several, alongside written scope, references, and how the company screens the people it sends. None of the seven questions is confrontational, and any established company will have heard all of them before.
FAQ
What does bonded and insured mean for a cleaning company?
It usually refers to three separate things: general liability insurance for property damage and injury, a janitorial or surety bond that guarantees against employee theft, and sometimes workers compensation for the company's own staff. Ask which of the three a company actually carries.
How do I verify a cleaning company's insurance?
Ask for a certificate of insurance issued by the company's insurance agent, which names the carrier, the coverage types, the limits, and the policy dates. A badge on a website or a verbal assurance confirms nothing, because only the agent or carrier can confirm a policy is in force.
What insurance limits should a cleaning company carry?
One million dollars per occurrence and two million dollars aggregate are common commercial limits in this trade, with smaller operators sometimes carrying less and some buildings requiring more. Treat limits as a starting point rather than a verdict on the company's quality.
Is a bond the same as insurance?
No. A bond is a financial guarantee rather than an insurance policy, and in cleaning it typically covers employee theft with a high evidentiary bar, often requiring a conviction or formal finding. General liability insurance is the coverage that addresses accidental property damage.
Should I ask about workers compensation?
Yes, because an injured worker with no coverage may look to the property owner instead. Ask whether workers are employees or independent contractors as well, since that changes which coverage applies and who is responsible for carrying it.
What if a cleaning company will not answer insurance questions?
Treat it as information rather than proof of a problem, and keep looking. Established companies answer these questions routinely, name their carrier without hesitation, and can have a certificate issued within a day or two, because they are asked constantly by buildings and property managers.
Ask seven questions and confirm the answers with the agent, not the website. Every home is different, so the real number depends on size, condition, and what you want covered. Get a quote and we will walk you through it.