Choosing a house cleaning service is a big decision. You need to treat the process like an interview, because that is what you are doing. You are hiring an individual or house cleaning service to enter your most private and intimate space, and work with your most valuable possessions. You need to look at more than the cost per visit and evaluate the overall experience that your house cleaning provider can offer you.Make sure you take the time to evaluate your house cleaning provider, and make a choice that meets your individual needs.
Is the house cleaning service you are evaluating bonded and insured?
This is a very important question to ask. While your property insurance does extend some protection to you against an individual being hurt on your property. In most cases that might be enough, but insurance should be carried by a professional home Superlative House Cleaning Services in Surrey to help mitigate your risks. At the minimum they should have a general liability policy, workman’s compensation, and full coverage auto. Workman’s compensation is the one that could be the most expensive for them to carry, but is the one you really need to think about. If someone is hurt in your employ without this insurance you could be on the hook to not only pay for their injuries, but lost wages as long as they are unable to work. Hiring a house cleaner should be headache free, and a good service provider will provide copies of coverage upon request.
Bonding is a guarantee against acts of dishonesty by the service provider, and those in their employ. While these types of bonds are not typically worth the paper they are written on, a good provider will have this coverage, and meet the steps needed to keep this coverage in force. A provider who has a bond is more likely to screen their employees thoroughly, and have a theft and loss prevention policy in place.
Will your new house cleaning service offer a guarantee?
Most service providers don’t have a formal written guarantee of any kind. The good companies will. Ask for a copy of their guarantee, it should at the very least be accessible from their website. A strong guarantee will provide you with a thorough re-clean of items found to be deficient in your scheduled cleaning if you contact the provider within a specified time frame, usually 24 hours. Another thing good service providers can guarantee is your day of scheduled visit. If you are scheduled to be cleaned every other Friday, your team will be there on that day guaranteed. No one likes it when they have the house all ready and the cleaning person fails to show up as promised.
How do they pay their employees?
You want to avoid paying people under the table, whether it done intentionally by you or through a company, because ultimately you can be found liable for taxes owed to the IRS if you exceed a threshold of household services and taxes are not paid on those services by the service provider. This also helps avoid choosing a company that might pay its employees substandard wages, and abuses other employment practices such as hiring undocumented workers. All of these things can be financially and socially damaging to you as an end result. Choose a company that pays its employees properly and pays all federal and local employment taxes. They may charge a little more, but you can guarantee that you won’t be on the hook for their bad behavior.
