An Introduction To UK Special Risks & Tom Mack – Specialist Broker To The Duct & Ventilation Cleaning Industry

We are specialist insurance brokers and advisers for the Cleaning industry. We have over 50 years’ experience in dealing with cover for Specialist Cleaning Contractors, General Cleaning Contractors other associated trades such as Facilities Management.

We understand the insurance requirements for the Ventilation & Duct Cleaning industry, and our 10+ years’ experience in the sector really helps us make certain we know everything there is to know about your industry.

We as a business, and I personally, specialise specifically in the Cleaning and Duct / Ventilation Cleaning trades. We currently protect the interests of over 300 cleaning companies in the South East and across the UK and are growing rapidly.

What Makes Us Different

When dealing with most brokers in the UK, you will find they only approach one, maybe two insurers at the maximum when providing a quotation. As we are an independent chartered insurance broker, we have the facility to approach a number of insurers, and yes, we will approach all of them to complete a full market exercise.

We understand guidelines and regulations cleaners within your industry have to follow when completing the above cleaning activities such as TR19 guidelines for example.

TR19 regulations are the guidelines that govern good practice for the cleaning of ventilation ducts and should be followed by anyone carrying out kitchen duct cleaning services

There are many health and safety aspects involved in the TR19 guidelines and it is important to understand these fully, from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

Health and safety legislation, safe cleaning methodology, hazard and fault awareness needs to be understood but as well as this a working knowledge should be gained.

The new BS EN 15780 legislation regarding Ventilation for Buildings and The Cleanliness of Ventilation and Ductwork Systems, identifies the standards that need to be met by all landlords and Facilities Management.

Our Experience

We understand your needs, requirements and are always available to give advice.

We specialise within the cleaning industry and as such currently hold over 250+ independent companies. Our current book of clients can range from turnovers with £100,000 up to £20m.

No matter how small, medium or big the company is, we are always happy to help and assist!

Our Specialist Insurance Policies

We will provide tailored industry specific cover which can include the following valuable extensions in cover:

• Damage to Property Being Worked Upon – including damage to duct, ventilation systems, access doors on ducts for example. This is a common exclusion on many standard policy wordings and can often be a fundamental gap in cover for Cleaning Contractors.
• Failure to Secure Customer’s Premises correctly – includes the failure to correctly set alarm systems, close / lock windows and doors and the consequential losses arising from such acts. This can be a common claim area for Cleaning Contractors when working outside business hours.
• Loss of Keys – Losing keys can render a customer’s premises unsecure. We provide cover for replacement locks / keys in such circumstances.
• Treatment Risks – Covers damage to soft furnishings resulting from incorrect application of products
• Accidental Damage of customer’s goods as well as customer’s cleaning equipment.

As well as the above we can provide cover for the following specialist areas:

• Duct & Ventilation Cleaning
• Extractor Fan Cleaning
• Canopy & Hood Cleaning
• All types of kitchen deep cleaning
• Grease Extract Cleaning
• Fire Damper Inspection, testing & cleaning
• IAQ Tests (Indoor Air Quality)
• High Level Access Work including use of Hydraulic Platforms, Ladders and Abseiling / Cradle work.
• Bio Hazard – Crime scene and trauma cleaning including the cleaning of bodily fluids. I am proud & privileged to say we are the recommended broker for the NACSC (National Association of Crime Scene Cleaners).

We can provide cover for your Cleaning Equipment anywhere in the UK, as well as cover for your own office contents etc. We will provide cover for Public / Products Liability of £1m, £2m, £5m or £10m as required by your contracts and work. Our wealth of knowledge puts us in an ideal position to help resolve claims as we have detailed knowledge of the types of claims which frequently occur within the industry.

Duct Cleaning – How can we help?

Insurance policies for Ventilation and Duct cleaners are often arranged incorrectly in our experience. Due to the relatively high level of exposure for consequential losses i.e fire*, insurers are often cautious when providing insurance for Duct / Extraction System Cleaning.

If either you or your broker disclose the works simply as “Kitchen Cleaning”, this will rarely be wide enough to cover the specialist works of Cleaning and Maintaining a Kitchen Extraction System.

Our expertise and experience means we know which insurers will accept the cover, which insurers will offer the most competitive premium, and which insurers will give the widest available cover at any given time.