Window cleaning insurance: how ladders and height change the price and the exclusions

A house cleaner who already has the keys to a client's home gets asked about the outside glass next: the French doors, the second-floor windows over the porch, the storefront of a client's shop. The inside of a window is a rag and a spray bottle. The outside is a ladder, and carriers price a ladder differently from a mop.

Unless noted, the pages below were read on October 1, 2026. For your existing policy, start with the general liability page.

Height is the question underwriters ask

MoneyGeek, in its own analysis of the trade, says the elevation of your work is the biggest pricing signal. Storefront and low-rise cleaning carries less fall exposure than mid-rise or high-rise exterior work, and rope descent or swing stages mean a narrower pool of insurers and higher premiums. The Hartford's page says needs vary with job type and work height. Insureon's cost page says a commercial high-rise costs more to insure than lower-risk services, and that lifts or boom trucks raise the equipment side of the premium.

Gaslamp is the one carrier page we read that turns this into published tiers, all with general liability limits of up to $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate:

Gaslamp tier	Described as	What it says about height and subcontractors
Standard	Small, low-risk jobs such as residential cleaning and storefronts	No coverage for work on high-rise buildings; subcontracted work up to 25%
Plus	Growing businesses; incidental mid-size commercial cleaning	Limited protection for ladder use on two-story buildings; subcontracted work up to 50%
Advantage	Larger teams, multi-story commercial	Protections for ladder work on larger buildings; meets most high-rise contracts' basic insurance requirements; subcontracted work up to 80%

Read that as a house cleaner would. The cheapest tier doesn't touch a high-rise, and the page lists ladder use on two-story buildings under Plus, with limits on it, without saying whether Standard allows it. Gaslamp's page doesn't define "high-rise" or give a height in feet or stories, so you can't tell from the page where Standard stops. Ask for that number.

Thimble describes the trade as work "twenty stories in the sky or clinging to a thirty-foot ladder," on a page we read from a Wayback copy dated May 17, 2026. We found no height limit on it, only a note that its window cleaner policy comes with limits of $1 million or $2 million.

A cracked pane is general liability; a clouded pane may not be

The carriers' examples cluster around a few events. The Hartford gives a ladder that shifts and cracks a customer's storefront window. Berxi gives a ladder that cracks a window, a customer who trips over your equipment, and a scratch to a client's vehicle. Simply Business's example is a bucket dropped from an office building that breaks a window, and Thimble's is a ladder that falls on a client's child. ERGO NEXT adds a passerby who slips on a soapy surface.

Those are accidents with equipment, and every one of these pages puts them under general liability. The streaky or cloudy pane is a different claim. The Hartford lists a customer who says streaks you left behind caused permanent window damage under professional liability. Insureon's example is a cleaning agent that permanently damages a window and leaves it cloudy, under errors and omissions. Berxi says professional liability can help with defense costs if you're accused of not doing the work as promised. Thimble's window page describes a customer who says your usual solution damaged their Italian glass as a defense costs claim, so the lawyer's bill is the part it addresses.

Simply Business's window page lists "damage to your work" among what general liability doesn't cover. Insureon's window page also describes contractors pollution liability, for cleaning solution that runs off into grass or nearby areas. A house cleaner who has asked the care, custody and control question will recognize the pattern: in these examples a cracked pane is an accident, and a pane made worse by cleaning it is a professional mistake. None of the carriers says it that way.

Falls are a workers' comp claim, not a general liability one

General liability pays for other people. It doesn't pay when you or your crew fall. Thimble's window page says its policy doesn't cover any injuries your staff encounter, and recommends workers' comp, which it says is legally required in most states. Berxi's policy is general liability with optional property cover, and workers' comp is added through one of its partners.

Insureon opens its window page by calling window cleaning one of the most risky professions, with an employee falling off a ladder as its first example, and its cost page's workers' comp example is a window washer who falls and breaks a leg. The Hartford's page says crews are often working at high heights, and its workers' comp example is a crew member who trips over a ladder while setting up. Insureon also says comp protects sole proprietors, since health insurance may deny a work injury.

Simply Business says the average work injury costs $41,000, a figure it gives for work injuries generally and not for window cleaning. The workers' comp guide shows when a state requires coverage for a first hire, and the requirements page lists the rules we've confirmed. Subcontracting the high work to someone else doesn't remove the question: Gaslamp covers subcontracted work up to 25%, 50% or 80% depending on tier, and Insureon's pressure washing page says subcontractors usually aren't covered under your general liability by default.

Ladders, poles and the van

Berxi's optional business personal property add-on starts around $115 a year and its examples are a water-fed pole or ladder damaged in transit. The Hartford's property list includes ladders and extension ladders, scaffolding and lift equipment, water-fed pole systems and harnesses. MoneyGeek says commercial auto costs the most in this trade, because the van carries crews, water-fed poles and ladders and personal auto doesn't cover that use.

Prices: $78 a month at Insureon, $500 a year at Berxi

Source	General liability	Other lines	What the figure describes
Insureon	$78 a month ($931 a year)	BOP $81, workers' comp $114, auto $250, umbrella $76	Median of policies for cleaning businesses applying through Insureon (its footer says window cleaning owners); updated September 8, 2026
The Hartford	$810 a year (about $68 a month)	BOP $1,687 a year, workers' comp $1,032 a year	Average paid by its small business customers; it doesn't offer the policy online
MoneyGeek	$81 a month (West Virginia about $52, California about $137)	Workers' comp $102, auto $199, property $21	Modeled for a one to four employee business, $1 million and $2 million limits, 10 insurers; updated September 11, 2026
Berxi	From $500 a year (about $42 a month)	Equipment add-on from about $115 a year	Berxi's own starting price; revenue, location and limits move it
Simply Business	From $48.33 a month	Workers' comp from $38.91	A 10th percentile of its policies sold July to December 2025, per its footnote; page updated August 26, 2026

Thimble's page title says "Starting at $17/month," its own headline on a May 2026 copy. The body says price depends on policy length, limit, crew size and zip code. ERGO NEXT's window page lists a low price of $37.50 in its structured data, not in its visible text, so we don't treat it as a published price.

Don't read The Hartford's row as a window price either; its carpet and pressure washing pages show the same three numbers. Insureon's median comes from its customers, who it says mostly have under five employees, so it describes small crews. MoneyGeek's workers' comp ($102) and Insureon's ($114) sit close together, but one is a model and the other is Insureon's median. Berxi's $500 and the other "from" prices are where cover begins. Ask any quote what height it assumes.

House cleaning comes in lower: Insureon's median for general liability is $51, as the cost page shows next to these.

Questions to ask before the first ladder job

1. "What is the highest I can work at, in feet or stories, on this general liability policy?"
2. "Does ladder work on a two-story house change the tier, the price or the exclusions?"
3. "Which policy pays if I crack a pane, and which if my solution clouds or streaks it?"
4. "Is my crew covered by workers' comp, and does the class code assume ladder work?"
5. "What does the policy say about work I subcontract?"

Other policies are on the coverage page, and the other exterior service a cleaner is likely to add is on the pressure washing page. If your highest job is a storefront or a house with a porch roof, say so on the application, because that sentence decides the tier. Windows are also the last job on many building sites, where a general contractor's subcontract can add to the paperwork: the post-construction cleaning insurance page reads one such form.