Open any cleaning company’s website in Florida and you’ll see the same three words near the top: "Licensed, Bonded, and Insured." It’s become so standard that it’s lost meaning — and many companies that advertise it actually aren’t.
If something goes wrong on a cleaning job — a broken antique, an injured cleaner, a missing watch — the difference between hiring a real licensed/bonded/insured company and an uninsured one is the difference between "they fix it" and "you absorb it." Worth verifying before you book.
Why this matters more than you think
Three things happen on cleaning jobs that put you on the hook if your cleaner isn’t covered:
- Damage to your home — a vacuum hits a baseboard, a cloth scratches a marble surface, a heavy mop knocks over a vase. Insurance covers this. No insurance, you absorb it.
- Injury on your property — a cleaner slips on a wet floor or falls off a step stool. If they’re not covered by workers’ comp, their medical bills + lost wages can come out of your homeowner’s policy.
- Theft — rare, but it happens. "Bonded" means an insurance company will pay you out if a cleaner steals from you and the company won’t make you whole. No bond, no payout.
What Florida actually requires
Florida does not require house cleaning services to hold a state-level cleaning license — this varies by city, but most municipalities (including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and Wellington) only require a basic local business tax receipt. That’s the bare minimum.
So when a cleaning company says "licensed in Florida," they usually mean they have a local business tax receipt — not a specialized cleaning license. That’s normal and fine, but don’t mistake it for state oversight.
The 4-step verification you can do right now
Step 1: Check Sunbiz (Florida business registry)
Go to search.sunbiz.org. Type the company name. If they don’t come up as an Active registered business in Florida, that’s a red flag — even unincorporated sole proprietors typically register a "doing business as" name.
Step 2: Ask for a Certificate of Insurance (COI)
Every legitimately insured cleaning service can produce a Certificate of Insurance within 24 hours, with you (or your property) named as a certificate holder. It will show their general liability coverage limits (usually $1M–$2M) and any workers’ compensation policy. If they hesitate to send a COI, walk away.
Step 3: Verify the bond
"Bonded" means a third-party insurer guarantees payment to you (the customer) if an employee steals from you. Ask which surety company issued the bond. You can call that surety company directly to verify the bond is active. Real bonds are usually $5,000–$25,000 in coverage.
Step 4: Confirm employees, not 1099 contractors
This is the one most people skip. If a cleaning company classifies its cleaners as 1099 contractors instead of W2 employees, the workers’ comp + general liability often doesn’t cover the cleaner working in your home — because they’re technically a separate business. Ask directly: "Are your cleaners W2 employees or 1099 contractors?" The answer matters legally.
Red flags to watch for
- Won’t send a Certificate of Insurance, or sends one with you not named as certificate holder
- Uses 1099 contractors (workers’ comp + liability coverage gaps)
- No business registration found on Sunbiz
- Pays cash only, no invoices
- Different cleaners every visit with no team training (signals high turnover + likely no W2 system)
- Pressure to book before you’ve verified anything
How we handle it
We’re a registered Florida business, hold $2M general liability + workers’ comp on every cleaner, carry a $25,000 surety bond, and employ all cleaners as W2 staff (not 1099). We can send a Certificate of Insurance within an hour of being asked — just request one when you reach out for a quote, and we’ll include it with your estimate.
This is also why we run background checks on every team member and follow strict no-cross-contamination protocols between rooms across every service we offer. The whole point of a professional cleaning service is that you don’t have to think about the operational risks — they’re managed.
Bottom line
Don’t trust the words on the website. Verify before you book. The whole process takes 15 minutes and protects you from the rare-but-real issues that come up on cleaning jobs. Any real cleaning company welcomes the questions — we wish more clients asked.
Considering Ultra Shine? Get a free quote and we’ll include our COI with the estimate. No verification gymnastics required.