Certificates of insurance for house cleaners: what a condo HOA will ask for

For a house cleaner, the first certificate request may not come from the client. It comes from the building. Say a condo owner books a deep clean in a managed tower that won't let vendors into units without insurance paperwork on file at the front desk. She may not even know the rule exists until you're standing in the lobby with your caddy.

Below is one real building's published list, item by item, and then how to get the paperwork fast. Where the accounts that ask for these certificates come from is in the guide to how to get cleaning contracts.

A certificate proves coverage. It doesn't create any.

A certificate of insurance (COI) proves you have coverage, most often general liability (the coverage page covers what each policy does). Insureon notes that ACORD, a nonprofit insurance organization, publishes the standard form used by most insurers, agents and brokers, usually called the ACORD 25. It shows who's insured, the insurers, each policy with its number and dates, the limits, the certificate holder (the client or building), and a "description of operations" box where requests like additional insured status are noted.

A certificate is only proof. Insureon says it's only a summary of existing insurance coverage, and handing one over doesn't cover the client for anything. If a building wants protection under your policy, that takes an endorsement.

Two rules follow:

• Never edit a certificate yourself, even to fix a typo in the building's name. Ask your insurer to reissue it.
• Don't let a certificate claim something the policy doesn't have. Typing "waiver of subrogation" into the description box doesn't create one.

Insureon also notes that counterfeit certificates, while rare, exist, and that anyone in doubt can request the COI directly from the insurance agent or broker. Expect a careful property manager to do exactly that.

One Los Angeles HOA asks for six things

Evo is a Los Angeles HOA, managed by Action Property Management. Its vendor insurance requirements say all vendors working in residential units must submit a certificate of insurance to the front desk. The page doesn't say who has to hire the vendor, so ask the front desk whether a unit owner's own cleaner counts. Its list:

Evo requires	What it means	What to ask your insurer
General liability of at least $1,000,000, including non-owned and hired auto liability	Your liability limit, plus liability cover for accidents in rented, borrowed or personal cars used for work	"Can you add hired and non-owned auto to my general liability?"
That coverage endorsed as primary and not contributory with the associations' own policies	Your policy pays first for claims from your work, without asking the HOA's insurer to share	"Can you add a primary and non-contributory endorsement for this HOA?"
Evidence of workers' comp at statutory limits	Proof of the coverage your state requires for employees	"What proof can I give if I have no employees?"
If reasonably available, an employee dishonesty bond protecting association or owner property, with a "special legal obligation clause" for property of others	A bond that pays for client property stolen by your employees	"Does this bond cover third-party property, and does it need a conviction?"
All policies endorsed to name the HOA and the management company as additional insureds	Both can look to your policy if they're sued over your work	"Can you name both, exactly as written?"
All policies with a waiver of subrogation for both	Your insurer gives up the right to recover from them	"Is there a charge, and can it be blanket?"

Nearly every line means a call to your insurer, so the sections below take them one at a time.

Additional insured

Insureon defines an additional insured as anyone other than the policyholder who is covered by the policy, with more limited protection than the policyholder. When a third party sues your additional insured over your work, your policy can respond, so defense costs and settlements don't come out of their pocket.

As an illustration: you mop the unit's entry and a neighbor slips on the wet tile in the corridor just outside the door. She sues the HOA and you. As an additional insured, the HOA can look to your policy for its defense.

Evo asks for "all policies" to name both parties. That runs into a limit Insureon spells out: a workers' comp policy can't have additional insureds, though you can add a waiver of subrogation, which works similarly. So for workers' comp, offer the waiver and tell the front desk why.

If you clean in many managed buildings, ask about a blanket additional insured endorsement. Insureon says it automatically includes anyone you're obliged to include, and that it would likely require a written contract or signed agreement to apply. That's the catch for cleaners: your contract is with the unit owner, not the HOA. Ask your insurer directly: "If my only written agreement is with the condo owner, does a blanket endorsement reach the HOA and its manager?"

Large management companies build this into their vendor programs. FirstService Residential's Virginia office runs two vendor tiers: Gold vendors put "FirstService Residential and any of its managed Associations" on the certificate as additional insured, while Silver vendors name specific associations and need a separate endorsement for each community they serve. Credentialing runs through a company called BCS at $95 a year. FirstService's specific limits sit behind vendor registration, so we couldn't confirm them.

Waiver of subrogation

When your insurer pays a claim, it normally gets the right to go after whoever else caused the loss. A waiver of subrogation, in Insureon's words, limits an insurer's right to sue a third party after it has paid your claim. Buildings want it so your insurer can't turn around and sue them.

As an illustration: your helper slips on a lobby floor the building's porter just waxed and breaks a wrist. Your workers' comp pays. Without a waiver, your insurer could try to recover from the HOA. With one, it can't.

Insureon says insurers usually charge an extra fee for a waiver. It also describes two kinds: a blanket waiver that covers any third party involved in a contract, and a scheduled waiver that names specific parties. If you work in several managed buildings, price the blanket version.

Primary and non-contributory

This wording decides the order in which policies pay. "Primary" means your policy responds first for claims from your work. "Non-contributory" means your insurer won't ask the HOA's insurer to chip in. Evo's list asks for exactly this, endorsed on your liability policy. A certificate that claims it without the endorsement is making a promise your policy doesn't keep.

Hired and non-owned auto on the liability policy

Evo folds auto into its general liability requirement. Insureon says hired and non-owned auto can be added to a general liability policy as an endorsement, and calls it a must if you or your employees drive personal, leased or rented vehicles for work. The Hartford describes non-owned coverage as extra coverage over a personal auto policy for liability, and frames it around employees using their own cars. If the car you drive to jobs is in your own name, ask your insurer whether the endorsement covers it. The solo cleaner guide covers the personal auto gap in more detail.

The employee dishonesty bond

Insureon says a janitorial bond is also called employee dishonesty coverage or a fidelity bond, and that the insurer reimburses the client and you pay it back. Evo wants more than a basic bond: it asks for a "special legal obligation clause" so the bond covers property of others stolen by your employees. NerdWallet's guide makes the same point in plainer terms: get one that covers third-party losses.

The other clause to check is the trigger. Swift Bonds says janitorial bonds pay only after the employee is convicted in court, while NerdWallet calls a "proof of loss" clause the more favorable alternative. Evo only asks for the bond "if reasonably available," so if you're solo with no employees, say so and ask whether they'll waive it. The bonded and insured page goes through bond forms in detail, and the janitorial bond page covers buying one. The employee dishonesty insurance page covers the first-party policy that shares the name.

Workers' comp at statutory limits

California's Division of Workers' Compensation says employers must carry coverage even if they have only one employee. If you have no employees, there's no statutory amount to show, so ask the building what it accepts instead before the job. The workers' comp guide has the rules for other states, and the requirements page covers the legal rules behind many of these requests.

When a client asks for $3 million

Commercial clients sometimes want more than a standard policy carries. Office and institutional contracts are covered in janitorial insurance. Bryant University, for example, requires vendors to carry general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 aggregate, plus a $1,000,000 umbrella.

Insureon's answer is an umbrella on top of the liability policy you already have. Its example: a client requires $3 million in general liability, so you carry $2 million plus a $1 million umbrella. Umbrellas come in $1 million increments and sit over general liability, commercial auto and employer's liability. Insureon's median for house cleaning businesses is $72 a month, and you need enough underlying coverage before you can buy one. Ask the client first: "Will you accept $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, plus a $1 million umbrella, as meeting the $3 million requirement?"

The certificate is free and fast. The endorsements are the slow part.

The certificate itself shouldn't cost anything. The Hartford says there's no cost to get a certificate of insurance, and that policyholders can request one online in under five minutes and usually get it instantly. Other insurers say similar things on their own pages:

• ERGO NEXT offers unlimited certificates at no extra cost through its web and app, and lets you add additional insureds as you need them.
• Thimble emails the certificate right after purchase, even for a policy that starts later, and lets you add or change additional insureds in its app.
• Insureon says about 80% of business owners can get a certificate within hours of starting an application, and harder-to-insure businesses usually within 48 hours.

Self-service tools handle the easy part: a new certificate holder, and at some insurers a new additional insured. Waivers of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording are endorsements. If your app can't add them, call, and do it the week you book the job.

Send your insurer three things with every request:

1. The exact legal names, as written on the requirement. Evo's list names "EVO HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION" and "ACTION PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC."
2. The building's insurance requirements, word for word.
3. The date you need it, with a few days of slack.

Keep a folder per building and a reminder before renewal

• Keep a folder for each building or property manager, with its requirement list and every certificate you've sent.
• Set a reminder two weeks before each renewal. A new policy period means a new certificate, and a front desk may turn you away the day yours expires.
• Before you send anything, check it the way the building will. Insureon's checklist for recipients: the name matches, the policy won't expire before the work is done, the coverage types are right and the limits meet the requirement.