Essential guide to hiring a cleaning service. We took the time and compiled this list of essential questions to ask before hiring a cleaning service.

We want you to avoid the pitfalls of hiring a cowboy service or a new service that could be in over their heads.

1. How long has your cleaning service been in business?

It takes a lot more than good intentions, a mop and a bucket to start a cleaning service. There’s a lot more to running a professional, sustainable company.

And as a result the failure rates for our industry are staggering.

• 50% will go out of business within the first year.
• By the end of the fifth year, nearly 90% will have closed their doors for good.
• There are nearly 65,000 businesses currently operating in the UK cleaning market. (Data supplied by tidychoice.com)
• This is not to say you should not consider hiring a newly formed company (we all started somewhere).

A good rule of thumb is, the longer a company has been in business the more likely they are to be around in the future.2.

2. Are you insured?

What happens if something in your home is broken or damaged? 

Proper insurance (at least five million pounds in public liability) is vital. 

Uninsured companies will absolutely be cheaper, but when the finish is eaten off your wood floors, your stainless steel appliances are scratched, or your grandmother’s vase is broken. 

They won’t be able to afford to compensate you for it, leaving you to foot the bill and even claim off your own insurance.

Always verify the cleaning service through the company’s insurance provider. 

Ideally, there should be a written policy in place regarding procedures for dealing with breakage/damage. Ask to see it.

3. Do you carry employers liability insurance on all of your employees?

Employers liability is required for all employees under UK law. Although very few cleaning companies comply because it is so expensive. 

This opens you up to significant risk of a lawsuit should a cleaner get injured in your home. 

The risk is even greater with an independent maid. Technically YOU are their employer.

Our insurance policy for our cleaning service covers us up to £10 million employers liability.

4. Do you prescreen your employees before they join your cleaning service?

Does the company check references? 

Perform criminal background checks? 

Are they willing to provide proof? 

If they are an independent cleaning person are they willing to provide you with a copy of their own background check at their expense?

Our staff have enhanced DBS record checks before they are allowed to commence working in our cleaning service.

5. What does your training program consist of?

Turnover in the industry is high. Many services are just desperate for “warm bodies” to throw out there and get the work done. 

It is not uncommon for new hires to get very little training, or no training at all. 

The best companies will have formal, documented, on-going training programs. 

This helps ensure consistency in quality and reduce the turnover of the staff who clean your home.

Example, our cleaning company staff go through rigorous training (accredited by CHAS), we are constantly updating them on essential Health and Safety as well as video training and supervised practical training.

6. Can you provide me with a written checklist of tasks to be performed?

This is extremely important. 

Different companies have different ideas of what a basic service consists of.

 It is important to know exactly what you are paying for. And know you are truly comparing apples to apples when making a final decision.

More common areas of potential confusion are dishes, stripping and making of beds, laundry, high dusting of ceiling, high reach window sills, handling of children’s toys, and the handling of the rubbish throughout the home. 

Save yourself a lot of potential grief by getting written specifications upfront.

7. Do you have a formal quality assurance program in place?

What methods does the company use to measure quality on an ongoing basis? 

Do they perform regular quality checks, email surveys, leave behind comment cards, or do follow up phone calls?

If so, how frequently? 

Do they have a specific person in charge of quality assurance?

Part of our CHAS accreditation is, we are assessed on our quality assurance policies and procedures. 

An assessor checks that our policies and procedures are correct and that they are actually being used and adhered to.

8. What happens if I am unhappy with my cleaning service?

Some cleaning services only offer a specified percent off your next service if you aren’t happy.

 Lets say you are dissatisfied and they won’t fix it, why would you even want to use them again?

A reputable service should come back and do whatever necessary to fix the problem, or be willing to offer you your money back. No quibbles.

9. Who provides the equipment and supplies?

Look for a company who provides all of their own supplies and equipment. 

Staff are less likely to misuse (Windolene on granite countertops, green scrub pads on the stainless steel hob, etc.) products they are familiar with and trained to use.

Additionally, providing supplies for your cleaner can easily add hundreds of pounds a year to your total cleaning bill. Because of the high volume of product used in a thorough cleaning.

Conclusion

Hiring a cleaning service does not have to be as stressful as it sounds. 

It is possible to hire a company like ours with little hassle, most reputable companies make it easy to pre-screen, book and pay all on their website.

As with our website, you can view our policies, see our staff and book online easily.