If you’re running a cleaning business in Australia, you’ve probably typed some version of “how much does cleaner insurance cost” into Google at 10pm on a Sunday. It’s the question every cleaner asks, and it’s the one that gets the most unhelpful answers. “It depends” is technically correct but practically useless. So here’s the real answer: actual premium ranges, broken down by the type of cleaning you do, the cover you need, and the state you’re in. These are 2026 figures, sourced from current market data and insurer pricing.
The Five-Second Summary
A sole trader cleaner doing standard domestic work can insure their entire business for roughly $60 to $110 per month. That’s public liability, equipment cover, and personal accident and illness insurance combined. If that sounds like less than your phone bill, you’re reading it right. Insurance for cleaners is generally affordable because the industry’s claims profile is moderate — fewer catastrophic claims than construction, more frequent small claims than office-based professions.
The full breakdown, policy by policy:
- Public liability ($5 million): $450 to $750 per year for a sole trader. Driven by turnover, services offered, and state.
- Public liability ($10 million): $550 to $900 per year. Same drivers as $5M cover, plus specific client contract requirements.
- Public liability ($20 million): $800 to $1,300 per year. Typically only needed for commercial-only operators and large contracts.
- Equipment insurance: $250 to $600 per year. Depends on the total value of your gear and whether it’s portable.
- Personal accident and illness: $350 to $800 per year. Driven by your age, coverage level, and waiting period.
- BizPack (bundled): $750 to $1,800 per year. Varies with the cover levels you select and your turnover.
These figures assume a sole trader with turnover under $100,000 per year and no claims history. A business turning over $250,000+ or one with previous claims will see premiums at the higher end of each range or beyond.
Public Liability: The One That Determines Everything
Public liability is the anchor policy for cleaners, and its premium is the number that matters most. Here’s what drives the price.
Your annual turnover is the single biggest factor. Insurers use turnover as a rough proxy for how much work you’re doing and therefore how much exposure you have. A cleaner turning over $40,000 a year doing 10 houses a week will pay less than a cleaner turning over $150,000 a year running three commercial contracts with staff.
The type of cleaning you do matters almost as much. Standard domestic cleaning — vacuuming, mopping, dusting, bathrooms — sits at the lower end of the risk scale, and PL premiums reflect that. Commercial office cleaning is similar. But the moment you add specialist services, the premium climbs. Pressure washing, high-rise window cleaning, carpet steam cleaning, and mould remediation all carry higher risk profiles and therefore higher premiums.
Your state affects pricing because of differences in state-based insurance taxes and regulatory environments. NSW and Victoria, with their larger populations and higher claim volumes, tend to have slightly higher premiums than Tasmania or South Australia. The difference is usually $50-100 per year, so it’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s real.
Your claims history matters for three to five years. A single small claim (under $5,000) might add 5-10% to your premium. A larger claim, or multiple claims, will push you toward the higher end of the pricing range or require you to go through a specialist underwriter.
Any contract requirements can force you into higher cover levels. If a body corporate demands $20 million in PL cover, you’re paying the $20 million premium regardless of what you think you need. The good news is that the jump from $5 million to $20 million rarely triples the premium — it’s typically a 60-80% increase.
A real example from 2026: A domestic cleaner in Brisbane, sole trader, turning over $65,000 a year, no claims, doing standard house cleaning with occasional end-of-lease work. Their PL premium: $520 per year for $5 million cover through a major Australian insurer. That’s $10 a week.
Equipment Insurance: Protecting Your Gear
If you’ve invested in a commercial-grade vacuum, a carpet extraction machine, a pressure washer, or a floor buffer, you know these aren’t Bunnings specials. A proper commercial vacuum can run $800-2,500. A carpet cleaning machine is $3,000-8,000. A pressure washer suitable for commercial work is $1,500-5,000. Add it up and a well-equipped cleaner is carrying $10,000-20,000 in gear.
Equipment insurance — sometimes called general property insurance or portable equipment insurance — covers your tools and machinery against theft, accidental damage, and in some cases breakdown. For cleaners, the “portable” part matters because your gear moves between sites and lives in your vehicle. That’s a different risk profile from equipment that sits in a fixed workshop.
Premiums for equipment insurance are driven almost entirely by the value of what you’re insuring. Covering $10,000 worth of gear might cost $300-400 a year. Covering $25,000 worth of gear might run $500-700. The excess is usually $250-500 per claim.
One thing to check: whether your policy covers gear left in your vehicle overnight. Many policies either exclude this or require specific endorsement. A van full of cleaning equipment is a tempting target, and theft from vehicles is one of the most common equipment claims in the industry.
Personal Accident and Illness Insurance
This is the policy that covers you — not your clients, not your gear, but your ability to earn an income. If you’re a sole trader cleaner and you can’t work because of an injury or illness, the mortgage doesn’t pause. Personal accident and illness insurance pays a weekly benefit if you’re temporarily unable to work, and a lump sum for permanent disabilities.
For cleaners, this is especially relevant. The work is physical — repetitive bending, kneeling, lifting, and chemical exposure. Back injuries, knee problems, and respiratory issues are the industry’s occupational hazards. A cleaner in their 40s who throws out their back and can’t work for six weeks faces a double hit: medical costs plus six weeks of zero income.
A typical policy for a cleaner might pay $800-1,000 per week in benefits for up to two years of temporary disablement, with a 14 or 30-day waiting period before benefits start. Annual premiums range from $350 for a basic policy with a 30-day waiting period to $800+ for a policy with higher benefits and a 14-day wait.
The waiting period is the lever: A 30-day waiting period cuts the premium by roughly 30-40% compared to a 14-day wait. If you have savings to cover a month without income, the longer wait can make the policy significantly more affordable.
Workers Compensation
If you employ staff — even casually, even family members — workers compensation insurance is legally mandatory in every Australian state and territory. It’s not optional and it’s not something you can contract out of. The cost varies dramatically by state because each state has its own workers compensation scheme with different pricing structures.
For a cleaning business employing 2-3 casual staff, annual workers comp premiums typically run $1,500-4,000, driven primarily by your total wages bill and your industry classification. Cleaning sits in a moderate-risk category for workers comp — higher than office work, lower than construction.
If you use subcontractors rather than employees, the workers comp obligation shifts, but it doesn’t necessarily disappear. Many states deem certain subcontractors to be workers for workers comp purposes, especially if they’re working exclusively or primarily for your business. If you’re relying on subcontractors to avoid workers comp premiums, get specific advice from your state’s workers comp authority before assuming you’re in the clear.
BizPack: Does Bundling Save Money?
BizPack — or whatever your insurer calls their bundled product — combines public liability, equipment cover, and sometimes personal accident or professional indemnity into one policy with one premium and one renewal date. For cleaners, bundling can save 10-20% compared to buying each policy separately from different insurers.
A typical BizPack for a sole trader cleaner in 2026 runs $750-1,200 per year for a package including $5 million PL, $10,000 equipment cover, and personal accident and illness. Separate those same policies across three different insurers and you’re probably looking at $900-1,400.
The convenience factor matters too. One renewal date. One point of contact. One set of policy documents. For a sole trader who’s already juggling quotes, scheduling, invoicing, and actually doing the cleaning, administrative simplicity has real value.
Comparing is still worth it: Bundling usually saves money, but not always. Before you commit, get the bundled quote and then check individual policy prices through BizCover to confirm the bundle is genuinely cheaper. Takes ten minutes and could save you a couple hundred dollars a year.
What Cleaners in Different Segments Actually Pay
The numbers above are averages. Here’s what they look like applied to real cleaning business profiles in 2026.
The weekend domestic cleaner: Does 5-8 houses a week, mostly Saturdays and occasional weeknights. Turnover around $35,000. Uses a single commercial vacuum and standard supplies. Needs $5 million PL only. Expected annual insurance cost: $450-550 for PL, possibly adding equipment cover for $200-250 if the vacuum is worth covering. Total: $450-800 per year.
The full-time domestic and end-of-lease cleaner: Works 5-6 days a week, mix of regular house cleans and bond cleans. Turnover around $80,000. Carries a commercial vacuum, carpet cleaner, and pressure washer worth about $12,000 total. Needs $10 million PL (some real estate agents require it), equipment cover, and personal accident. Expected annual cost: $650-850 for PL, $350-450 for equipment, $450-600 for personal accident. Total: $1,450-1,900 per year. A BizPack might bring this to $1,200-1,600.
The commercial cleaning contractor: Employs 3-5 staff, services 12 office buildings, turnover around $300,000. Carries $25,000+ in equipment. Needs $20 million PL, equipment cover, workers comp for staff, and possibly management liability. Expected annual cost: $1,100-1,500 for PL, $600-800 for equipment, $2,500-4,000 for workers comp. Total: $4,200-6,300 per year. This business can’t afford to cheap out — one uncovered claim would be catastrophic.
The specialist carpet and restoration cleaner: Solo operator, high-value equipment ($20,000-30,000), turnover around $120,000. Does carpet steam cleaning, water damage restoration, and upholstery cleaning. Needs $10 million PL, comprehensive equipment cover, and personal accident. Expected annual cost: $750-950 for PL, $500-700 for equipment, $450-600 for personal accident. Total: $1,700-2,250 per year.
How to Keep Your Premiums Down
Insurance pricing isn’t entirely out of your control. Here are practical things that actually move the needle on cleaner insurance premiums in 2026.
Pay annually rather than monthly. Insurers charge a premium loading for monthly instalments — usually 5-10% of the annual premium. Paying upfront for the year avoids this entirely.
Increase your excess. Moving from a $250 excess to a $500 or $1,000 excess can reduce your premium by 10-20%. This only makes sense if you have the cash to cover the higher excess if you need to claim.
Bundle your policies. As covered above, bundling PL, equipment, and personal accident with one insurer typically saves 10-20% compared to buying them separately.
Manage your claims history. It sounds obvious, but a clean claims record is the single best thing you can do for your premium. Small incidents that are close to your excess amount — say a $400 carpet stain — are often worth paying out of pocket rather than claiming, because the claim will sit on your record for years and push up future premiums by more than the $150 you’d receive after the excess.
Review your cover annually. Your business changes, and your insurance should change with it. If you bought equipment cover for $15,000 worth of gear three years ago and you’ve since sold the carpet cleaner and downsized, you’re overpaying. If you’ve taken on larger commercial contracts, your PL cover might need to go up.
Check your turnover declaration. Your premium at renewal is based on your declared annual turnover, but many cleaners estimate high to be safe and end up overpaying. Declaring $100,000 when you actually turned over $72,000 means you paid a premium on $28,000 of revenue that didn’t exist. Be accurate.
FAQ: Cleaner Insurance Costs
Why does my quote change every year even though nothing about my business has changed?
Insurance pricing is affected by factors beyond your individual business — the insurer’s overall claims experience across the cleaning industry, reinsurance costs, regulatory changes, and inflation. Even if your business is unchanged, the broader market moves. A 5-10% annual increase is normal; anything above 15% is worth shopping around.
Can I get monthly payments without the extra loading?
Some insurers offer “pay by the month” at the same rate as annual — but it’s rare. BizCover and most online brokers will show you both options at quote stage so you can see the difference before committing.
What’s the cheapest state for cleaner insurance?
Tasmania and South Australia tend to have slightly lower premiums than NSW and Victoria, but the difference is usually under $100 per year. It’s not worth relocating for.
Do I pay more if I work in high-end homes?
Not directly — insurers don’t ask for the postcode of each house you clean. But if your turnover is higher because you charge premium rates in affluent suburbs, your premium will reflect the higher turnover. The risk of damaging expensive items is captured indirectly through the turnover proxy.
Is insurance tax deductible for cleaners?
Yes. Insurance premiums for your cleaning business are a deductible business expense. Keep your policy documents and payment receipts with your tax records. If you use a portion of your home as an office and your policy includes business equipment stored there, discuss the apportionment with your accountant.
Disclosure: This article contains general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Premium ranges are indicative and based on 2026 market data. Your actual premium will depend on your individual circumstances, claims history, and insurer. Always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before purchasing insurance. cleanerinsurance.au may receive a referral commission if you purchase a policy through BizCover links on this site.