Are House Cleaners Insured and Bonded? What That Really Means
Insurance and bonding protect you from liability if a cleaner is injured in your home or if property is damaged or stolen. Reputable cleaning companies carry both. Here's what insured and bonded actually mean — and what to verify before hiring.
Insured and bonded is the industry shorthand for two separate protections every reputable cleaning company should carry. Insurance (specifically general liability and workers' comp) protects you if a cleaner is injured in your home or if your property is damaged during a cleaning. Bonding is a financial guarantee that covers theft. Together, they mean you're not on the hook financially if something goes wrong. Queen of Maids carries both as a baseline, and every cleaner is also background-checked before entering any home.
What insured means (and why it matters)
When a cleaning company says it's insured, it should carry two specific policies:
Some companies misuse the word 'insured' to mean only one of these — usually liability. Always ask specifically: *do you carry general liability AND workers' comp insurance, and can you send me a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?*
What bonded means
Bonding is different from insurance. A surety bond is a financial guarantee — a third-party (a bonding company) promises to pay if a cleaner steals from your home. It's not as common as it sounds (the vast majority of professional cleaning visits end with zero theft), but it's a meaningful financial protection.
Bonding doesn't replace insurance — they cover different things. A bonded company can still be uninsured, and vice versa. The right answer is both, plus background checks on every cleaner.
What background checks add
Insurance and bonding are financial protections — they kick in *after* something goes wrong. Background checks are preventative — they reduce the chance of something going wrong in the first place. A proper background check includes:
Queen of Maids runs all four on every cleaner before assigning them to a home, plus an in-person interview as part of the hiring process.
What to verify before hiring a cleaning company
Before booking with any cleaning service:
If a company hesitates on any of these or can't produce documentation, it's a red flag. A few minutes of verification upfront saves a lot of trouble if anything ever goes wrong.
Queen of Maids coverage
Every Queen of Maids cleaner is fully insured (general liability and workers' comp), bonded, and background-checked before being assigned to any home. We also carry identity verification and conduct an in-person interview as part of the hiring process — and the cleaners assigned to your home are employees of Queen of Maids, not subcontractors. If something goes wrong, you have a single point of contact and the financial protections are real, not hypothetical.
About the Author
Jason Miller
14 years in home services · Business coach
Jason has spent over 14 years in the home services industry, building and scaling cleaning operations across multiple markets. He coaches small business owners on service delivery, team management, and customer retention. His hands-on experience running day-to-day operations gives him a practical perspective on what actually works in residential cleaning.
Ready for a Spotless Home?
Join hundreds of happy neighbors across four major metro areas. Book your first cleaning today and see the Queen of Maids difference.