Insured and Bonded: What It Actually Means (and How to Verify It)

“Insured and bonded” appears on nearly every cleaning company’s website. The two terms get used interchangeably, but they cover completely different risks. Understanding the difference, and knowing how to verify both, protects your business if something goes wrong.

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Insurance and bonding cover different things

General liability insurance covers property damage or bodily injury caused by the cleaning company during their work. If a crew member breaks a window, floods a bathroom, or causes someone to slip on a freshly mopped floor, general liability is what pays the claim.

A surety bond covers employee theft or dishonesty. It is not insurance, and accidents do not trigger it. Read the conviction clause before you rely on it. Most janitorial bonds pay only after the employee is reported to police and convicted, so a bond is a deterrent and a last resort, not a fast reimbursement.

A cleaning company can be fully insured and have no bond. They can be bonded with only minimal insurance. Most commercial cleaning proposals bundle both under “insured and bonded” without specifying either. Ask what they carry for each, separately.

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What minimum coverage actually looks like

For general liability, the standard for most commercial cleaning accounts is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. Those figures cover most property damage scenarios in a standard office or retail setting.

For buildings with higher exposure (medical facilities, data centers, multi-tenant residential), $2 million per occurrence is the more appropriate floor. Your commercial lease may already specify a minimum; check it before evaluating vendors.

Bond limits vary widely across the market. Some are blanket, covering every employee up to a single limit. Some schedule a limit per employee, and $25,000 per employee is a common figure in that form. Those are market numbers, not any one company’s limit. Ask each bidder which form its bond takes, ask for the limit in dollars, and ask what the claim process requires.

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How to read a certificate of insurance

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page ACORD form issued by the cleaning company’s insurance agency, not by the carrier, that summarizes the policy. It is evidence that coverage exists, not the policy itself, and it grants you nothing on its own. Requesting one is standard practice. Any legitimate cleaning company has a COI and can produce it within a day.

What to check on the COI:

• Policy effective and expiration dates. A COI from eight months ago may represent a policy that’s already lapsed. Verify the coverage is current.
• Coverage limits. Confirm the per-occurrence and aggregate figures match what you require.
• Named insured. The company name on the COI should match the legal entity you’re contracting with.
• Additional insured. For ongoing commercial accounts, ask to be added as an additional insured by endorsement. That extends the policy’s liability coverage to you for claims arising out of the cleaner’s work. It does not get you notice if the policy lapses. Notice of cancellation is a separate endorsement, so ask for that one by name and confirm it is on the policy, not just typed on the certificate.

If you want to confirm the policy is active, call the insurance agency listed on the certificate, not the cleaning company. Brokers confirm coverage directly.

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The subcontractor gap

A cleaning company’s general liability policy covers their employees. If they use subcontractors, the coverage picture changes.

Subcontractors are independent businesses. If a cleaning company sends a subcontractor to your building and that sub causes damage, the cleaning company’s insurance may not cover it. The sub would need their own policy. In practice, many subcontractors in the cleaning industry are underinsured or carry minimal coverage.

Ask directly: do any of the people who will clean my building work as subcontractors? If so, how do you verify their insurance?

If the answer is vague, or if they say subcontractors carry their own coverage without being able to verify it, that’s a gap in your protection.

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Oregon workers’ compensation

ORS 656.017 requires an Oregon employer to carry workers’ compensation coverage for its subject workers. The exceptions in ORS 656.027 are narrow, and a cleaning crew working in your building does not fall into any of them. If a crew member is injured on your property, Oregon law determines how the claim is handled.

If a cleaning company misclassifies workers as independent contractors, ORS 656.029(1) can push the coverage obligation onto whoever awarded the contract. Two conditions gate it. The labor has to be a normal and customary part of the awarding party’s own trade or business, and the cleaning company has to have failed to provide coverage before work began. A property management firm that runs cleaning in-house sits closest to that line. Verified coverage from the cleaner closes it.

When evaluating a cleaning company, ask how their crew is structured (direct employees, subcontractors, or a mix) and whether their workers’ comp coverage applies to everyone entering your building. You can check it yourself: the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division runs a proof of coverage search by employer name.

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What RKA Cleaning carries

We carry $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate general liability, a surety bond, and workers’ compensation in Oregon and Washington. Ask for the COI and read the per-occurrence and aggregate limits yourself. Ask us how our coverage applies to everyone working in your building.

We can provide a COI before the first visit and add your organization as an additional insured on request. No waiting, no “we’ll get that to you.”

We serve commercial accounts across Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Gresham, Happy Valley, and Vancouver, WA. Request a quote or call (971) 600-0752.