High-Pressure Cleaning Business, Portable Equipment and Liability

A Sydney high-pressure cleaning business came to us for a business pack. The work was split roughly evenly between commercial sites, including schools cleaned outside hours, and residential work, with some jobs up to about five storeys.

With three staff and turnover around $500,000, they needed $20 million public liability plus cover for the portable equipment that goes with the trade - a soft-wash trolley, ladders, window-cleaning kits and surface cleaners that move between job sites.

We presented the business clearly - the commercial and residential split, the working height, and the equipment list - and went across the market for a pack rather than relying on standard channels.

• We approached six markets for a business pack covering liability and portable property.
• Three insurers declined on occupation, with the liability side the sticking point given the height work.
• We arranged general property cover so the equipment was covered while in transit in the work vehicle, not just on site.

For a mobile trade, portable property that follows the equipment between jobs is as important as the liability limit, so we made sure both were addressed.

The occupation was the main barrier. High-pressure cleaning at height sits with a narrower set of liability markets, and three of the markets we approached declined on that basis.

The portable equipment added a wrinkle. Gear that moves between sites and travels in a vehicle needs cover that follows it, so we confirmed with the underwriter that the portable property was covered in transit, which is exactly the gap that can catch a mobile trade out.

We placed the business pack through CGU, covering both the portable equipment and the public and products liability.

The business came away with liability cover at the limit they needed and equipment protection that travels with the gear, despite the occupation sitting outside several markets' appetite.

This case shows how a business pack adapts to a mobile trade. Getting the portable property cover right, including in transit, is the detail that makes the pack actually fit the way the business works.