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Window cleaning insurance

Join over 5,100 window cleaners like you with PL cover from £3.19 per month*

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Rated 4.7/5

Based on 39,755 reviews

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Claims paid in 24 hours

For 80% of settled claims

What's on this page

  • Why is insurance important?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How do I choose insurance?
  • How do claims work?
  • FAQs
  • Helpful articles

Why do you need window cleaning insurance?

Commercial or residential properties. High-rise or low-rise buildings. Whoever your window cleaning clients are, safety is a critical factor. Working at height, moving ladders around near delicate tiles and glass surfaces – window cleaners’ insurance safeguards you against the cost of mistakes and accidents. You can’t always stop them occurring, but you can make sure you’re covered.

  • Protection against big claims due to accidental injury or damage to property
  • Cover what you need from legal and medical costs to specialist equipment and personal accidents
  • Peace of mind for you, your staff, and your customers and clients

Start your quote

What does window cleaning insurance insurance cover?

As a window cleaner, you know the risks associated with your job. As you're working with ladders and glass, public liability insurance is a good choice for most window cleaners. If you employ staff, you're legally required to have employers’ liability insurance too. We give you a range of options so you can pick and pay for only what you need.

Public liability insurance for window cleaners

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • damage you’ve caused to someone else’s property through your window-cleaning work
  • injury you’ve caused to someone else through your window-cleaning work
  • damage or injury caused by your employee (remember, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance if you employ people)

For example:

  • you accidentally scratch an aluminium window frame with your brush while you’re cleaning windows at a customer’s house
  • your ladder falls onto a pedestrian in the street, resulting in a dislocated shoulder
  • your employee dislodges some tiles on a customer’s roof with the ladder, so rain leaks through into the loft, and several repairs are needed

What you’ll need additional cover for

  • any non-window-cleaning jobs you carry out, such as building, gardening, or fitting bathrooms

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case your employee is involved in an accident or mistake while they’re working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • employees who fall ill or get injured due to the work they do for you

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

  • a ladder clamp failure means your employee falls off the ladder and breaks their wrist

Tools insurance

In case your window cleaning tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

  • the tools you use as a window cleaner, whether on site or stored at your business premises
  • accidental damage, flood damage, or fire damage to your tools
  • theft of your tools

For example:

  • your water-fed backpack and hose are stolen from your van while it’s parked outside a client’s block of flats
  • your ladder falls onto your carbon fibre broom pole and cracks it, so you have to buy a replacement

Read more about tools insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.

  • legal costs that you face as a consequence of your day-to-day business activities, such as resolving disputes with your staff
  • the cost of legal claims and compensation payouts relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
  • investigations by HMRC and tax and compliance disputes
  • access to a tax advice helpline, a confidential 24/7 legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help you look after your business’s reputation

For example:

  • you’re investigated by HMRC or your company is selected at random for an audit, and you need help dealing with the tax enquiries – either for the business itself, or for you personally and any other directors
  • you need to defend your legal rights following the dismissal of an employee

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

  • injury or death at work or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
  • lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

  • a gust of wind catches the window you’re cleaning, which swings open suddenly and knocks you off your ladder, breaking your arm
  • you suffer a slipped disc while you’re jogging at the weekend
  • your casual labourer breaks their leg on a night out

Read more about personal accident insurance

How much does window cleaning insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £3.19 per month

Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.

Example window cleaner insurance quotes, real prices

covea insurance

£8.41 /month

£64.05 /year

A window cleaner working on residential locations - does not involve hanging from ropes or cables

  • 2-3 years' experience
  • Sole trader
  • No employees
  • Based in Newcastle
  • Public liability insurance

    £1,000,000

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    Not included

  • Tools insurance

    Not included

chiswell insurance

£41.41 /month

£368.12 /year

A window cleaning ltd company working on residential locations - does not involve hanging from ropes or cables

  • 5+ years' experience
  • Limited company
  • 2 employees
  • Based in Newcastle
  • Public liability insurance

    £1,000,000

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    £10,000,000

  • Tools insurance

    £5,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 30/03/2022). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover

Lowest excess

Highest excess

Public liability

£100

£2500

Employers' liability

No excess

No excess

Tools

£60

£500

Business and office equipment

£50

£750

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.

How it works

  • Pick what goes into your policy

    Only pay for what you need

  • Get prices from a range of insurers

    Choose the best fit for you

  • Buy online in minutes

    Get your documents the same day

Start your quote

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How do I choose insurance?

Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.

Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tools cover.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does window cleaning insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider Carpet cleaning insurance or Jet washing?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

Other types of insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.

Talk to an expert

Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm

Call our team

0333 043 8527

Online

Contact us on our website whenever suits you

Phone

Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

£39 million in claims paid out in 2022

Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022

Example claim

Having window cleaning insurance through Simply Business has saved window cleaners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Alistair saved more than £9,700

Alastair (not his real name) was cleaning windows for a customer one morning when the bottom of the ladder slipped on the ground beneath him. He fell off the ladder and had to be airlifted to hospital by helicopter. Thankfully he’d taken out insurance to help him deal with the financial setback.

  • Insurance payout

    £9,728.57

    Covering the cost of the accident

  • Alistair’s costs

    £100

    The excess amount stated in Alistair’s policy terms

Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

  • Compare and buy in minutes

    Documents arrive today

  • Rated 4.7/5

    Based on 39,755 reviews

  • Here to help

    Help from UK-based experts

  • 24/7 claims

    Make a claim any time

Window cleaning insurance

Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about window cleaning insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

  • Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you’re a plumber, you may also do building work on certain jobs – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 0146 683 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.

  • Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 0146 683 to update your policy before you take on this new work. If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.

  • Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.

  • You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:

    • one-off credit or debit card payment
    • BACS payment
    • Direct Debit

    If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly installments.

  • If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 0146 683. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.

  • This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

    If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

    There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it's important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions

Helpful articles for window cleaners

Squeegee blade wiping soap from a window

5 Mar 2018 • 6-minute read

How to start a window cleaning business: a comprehensive guide

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