Employee Dishonesty
You're handed keys and access every day. Here's the coverage built specifically around that trust — and where GL alone falls short.
An electrician wires a panel and leaves. A landscaper mows a lawn and leaves. A cleaner is handed a garage code, works alone inside a home or office, often after hours, with nobody watching. That access is the entire business model — and it's also the one exposure that general liability was never built to cover.
This coverage responds when an employee is accused of stealing from a client, or acting dishonestly in a way that costs the client money or property, while performing work for your business. It's not about accidents — your GL policy already handles those. It's specifically about intentional bad acts by someone on your payroll.
Most cleaning happens without a client physically present — commercial accounts are frequently serviced after hours, residential clients hand over a key and leave for the day. That trust is the product you're selling, and it's exactly the scenario this coverage is built around.
A theft accusation — even an unfounded one — can end a client relationship and damage referral business overnight. Having coverage in place isn't just about the payout; it's proof to clients that you take the risk seriously enough to insure against it before anything happens.
Property managers and facility clients are asking for this coverage specifically, not just GL and a bond. If your quote doesn't already include it and a client asks, that's a gap worth closing before it costs you a contract.
They're often confused, but they work differently. A janitorial bond is a guarantee the surety company can require you to reimburse if it pays a claim. Employee dishonesty coverage is closer to true insurance — the policy absorbs the loss without an automatic expectation you'll pay it back. Some clients want one, some want both; check the exact contract language rather than assuming they're interchangeable.
Typical scenarios: an employee is accused of taking cash, jewelry, or electronics from a home or office; a client alleges items are missing after a scheduled cleaning and no one else had access; a commercial account reports a pattern of small losses traced back to a specific crew member. The coverage responds to the business's liability for the employee's actions, not the employee's personal liability — see our walkthrough of how a claim like this actually gets handled.
If you're solo, this coverage is priced around your own exposure. The moment you add staff — even one part-time hire — that exposure isn't yours alone anymore, and the coverage amount should reflect headcount, not stay flat from when you were the only person with access to a client's property.
Carriers price this coverage more favorably for businesses that background-check hires and can document it. Beyond the discount, it's simply good practice — the fewer surprises about who you're sending into someone's home, the fewer claims you'll actually face.
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FAQ
No. A bond is a guarantee the surety can require you to repay after a claim. Employee dishonesty coverage functions more like standard insurance, without that automatic repayment expectation. Some clients want both.
This coverage is built around employee conduct specifically. As a true solo operator with no staff, your GL and professional conduct are the primary protections — talk to us about your specific setup.
The coverage still matters even for unfounded claims — it typically supports the investigation and legal costs of responding to an allegation, not just a confirmed theft.
Increasingly yes, especially for recurring access arrangements where a client hands over a key or code long-term rather than being present for each visit.
It scales with headcount and the type of access your crew has. Tell us your team size and the kind of properties you service, and we'll size it appropriately rather than guessing at a flat number.
Tell us your team size and we'll size employee dishonesty coverage correctly — typically same business day.