Within the cleaning services industry, there can be several different types of cleaners. Housekeeping is meant to be for residential cleaning services such as homes or apartments. Sometimes these cleaners will also expand to do offices, but most of the time this is not the case. A janitorial service will clean commercial properties, such as office buildings, garages, retail stores, and even schools. It is important to know which specific sector of the cleaning industry you are in when shopping for the corresponding Janitorial Services insurance, especially a Janitorial Services Bond.
Because a janitorial services business is in and out of commercial properties all day long, there can be pretty significant exposure to risk. You probably train your employees to clean well and respect the clients' property, but what happens when one of your employees steals something from a client? In order to provide your clients with peace of mind, they may ask you to have a bond to protect against employee theft. A Janitorial Services Bond is designed to provide coverage for your clients' property should it be stolen by one of your employees during the course of your work. Even if they don't ask you to have one, as a business owner it is a great idea because it shows your potential and current customers that their things will be protected if something unforeseen should happen.
No matter how well you screen your employees, unfortunately, you never know what could happen. In addition to reimbursing a client in a theft situation, it will pay if you never perform the work you agreed to. The Janitorial Services Bond will pay the client the fees that they paid for services that were not received. Be aware that a Janitorial Services Bond will not pay for physical damages done to the clients' property, you will need to have an insurance policy to cover that type of claim.
If you own a business that provides any kind of cleaning services you should have a Janitorial Services Bond. This includes but is not limited to maids, janitors, landscapers, painters, plumbers and HVAC contractors, other construction contractors, and pet or house sitters. The bond that you purchase will name your client as the obligee which means they will receive the funds if they suffer financial losses due to your business committing theft of their items or services they never received.
Even if you are reading this and don't have a cleaning business but have employees that enter people's homes for any type of business transaction, you should have a bond.
Since we live in a world where anyone can sue for any reason, it is critical to protect your business from known issues that can arise. Customers reporting the theft of items and claiming they did not get the services you agreed to give them, is one of those known issues. Even if your employees did their job and cleaned the business from top to bottom, that does not mean the customer will be happy with the results.
You are probably fighting a number of other janitorial cleaning service companies to obtain new clients. One way to be a step above the rest is to be able to show you already have a Janitorial Services Bond. Keep in mind that it will give peace of mind to any potential customer, but it also protects your business. If a customer claims an employee stole something, like a $5,000 piece of china, and you cannot prove otherwise would you want to easily report a claim and get it paid for, or reach into the business's profits?
Obtaining a Janitorial Services Bond should be pretty easy and painless unless you need a very large amount of coverage. Most small to mid-sized businesses will not, and therefore you won't have to have a credit check performed, unlike other bonds. There will be several factors that influence the price of the bond, which includes the value, number of employees, and the types of businesses you serve. If you only have a handful of employees you can get a $5,000 value for only $100. This is a good starting point to use if you are attempting to budget for it.