Cold water and cold weather.

[Dave B]

My public liability insurance is just in case I injure a member of the public because of my actions when I'm out and about cleaning.its highly unlikely but it could happen....

You d be mad not to have it as its so cheap!mines around £90 a year for 1 million cover(simply business).i also need it for a group of children's homes I clean

That’s not much cover for commercial jobs
I used to have £2m cover but had to up it to £5m for a particular job
I think 5 is normal now
Definitely not a credit card ?

 

[Iron Giant]

We have some jobs ware each pain of glass is £3,500-4,000 each and that’s domestic houses not commercial buildings I wouldn’t want to have to pay for replacing one of them that’s why we now have insurance for the glass being worked on never used to bother with normal windows but getting more and more of theses huge sheets on bigger buildings .

I have one job where the porch window is as big as a shop front window the owner had quite a few issues with the window's fittings and scratches on the glass across multiple panes he had them polished out the guy came from quite a distance away as well this was a few years ago now, so polishing out for a scratch is an option, rather than total replacement but as you have employees you have more risks to cover

 

[Iron Giant]

I used to have £2m cover but had to up it to £5m for a particular job
I think 5 is normal now

£5 million is standard on schools and Government Buildings I had that years ago although I only ever got asked once in over 10 years for my insurance documents as I was on the approved list, I dropped the lot including commercials I no longer had any interest in doing which involved early starts or sometimes working a Saturday,

I prefer just doing houses I turn up when I want without any issues mostly, but I do have two commercial jobs which are quick and easy money with no parking issues I turn down every commercial enquiry and just give them a mates' details

 

[Dave B]

£5 million is standard on schools and Government Buildings I had that years ago although I only ever got asked once in over 10 years for my insurance documents as I was on the approved list, I dropped the lot including commercials I no longer had any interest in doing which involved early starts or sometimes working a Saturday,

I prefer just doing houses I turn up when I want without any issues mostly, but I do have two commercial jobs which are quick and easy money with no parking issues I turn down every commercial enquiry and just give them a mates' details

I work for 2 property management companies and they both email me annually to get an updated copy of my insurance
Shops etc never ask

 

[Yogi1872]

Cancelling your public liability insurance and taking out a credit card instead is madness IMO.PLI is NOT for property being worked on....

Besides......relying on a credit card for a few hundred quid repair is not ideal....if you ve been window cleaning for over 20 years you should at least have a fair size emergency fund(£10,000+) behind you which could easily cover the cost of a new pane of glass.

I'm not talking about pane of glass, If I've scratched a pane, someone comes out and polishes it out, think it was £70 or £90 last time I had to use them. It was more incase if I do damage to anyones car costing thousands of pounds. If I've done it I'm obviously fixing it, regardless if the insurance didn't pay the claim, I'd have to cover it.

There's 2 supercars on my round, imagine scratching one of them.

 

[Pjj]

That’s not much cover for commercial jobs
I used to have £2m cover but had to up it to £5m for a particular job
I think 5 is normal now
Definitely not a credit card ?

Yes I agree all our commercial want a minimum of 5 million , I have just renewed mine in November , this year will probably have to go higher not sure what the next level is ?

 

[Pjj]

I have one job where the porch window is as big as a shop front window the owner had quite a few issues with the window's fittings and scratches on the glass across multiple panes he had them polished out the guy came from quite a distance away as well this was a few years ago now, so polishing out for a scratch is an option, rather than total replacement but as you have employees you have more risks to cover

Yes I was worried more about cracking a pain rather than scratching never scratched one in 25 years but cracked 4 small ones so didn’t want to get a bill for 4k plus £30-100 is one thing 4 k is in a different league.????

 

[dazmond]

I'm not talking about pane of glass, If I've scratched a pane, someone comes out and polishes it out, think it was £70 or £90 last time I had to use them. It was more incase if I do damage to anyones car costing thousands of pounds. If I've done it I'm obviously fixing it, regardless if the insurance didn't pay the claim, I'd have to cover it.

There's 2 supercars on my round, imagine scratching one of them.

You worry too much!

I've got a fair few customers with porsches,mcclarens,etc but I stay away from them!??

The only thing I've broke in 31 years of window cleaning is a few plant pots,a light fitting,a few roof tiles and cracked a pane of glass.... that's it,less than £200 altogether...

£7 per year!??

 

[Yogi1872]

You worry too much!

I've got a fair few customers with porsches,mcclarens,etc but I stay away from them!??

The only thing I've broke in 31 years of window cleaning is a few plant pots,a light fitting,a few roof tiles and cracked a pane of glass.... that's it,less than £200 altogether...

£7 per year!??

Cars are the only thing I worry about, it's the only real thing that could cost a substantial amount if any damage was done to them. My mates ladder fell on a car years ago, it wasn't cheap.

 

[Iron Giant]

You worry too much!

I've got a fair few customers with porsches,mcclarens,etc but I stay away from them!??

The only thing I've broke in 31 years of window cleaning is a few plant pots,a light fitting,a few roof tiles and cracked a pane of glass.... that's it,less than £200 altogether...

£7 per year!??

That's why he has a credit card and not PL insurance ?

 

[Iron Giant]

Yes I was worried more about cracking a pain rather than scratching never scratched one in 25 years but cracked 4 small ones so didn’t want to get a bill for 4k plus £30-100 is one thing 4 k is in a different league.????

Who are insured with if you don't mind me asking I was paying over the odds with Gleaming then did a quote via Simply Business and AXA said it would cover property been worked upon then when it came down to it they wouldn't cover an item been cleaned, I have sent an enquiry to Alexander Swan this morning.

I think with the money you'll potentially save you can ditch your iPhone 3 and get a new phone as that emjoi button is sticking again ?

 

[Pjj]

Who are insured with if you don't mind me asking I was paying over the odds with Gleaming then did a quote via Simply Business and AXA said it would cover property been worked upon then when it came down to it they wouldn't cover an item been cleaned, I have sent an enquiry to Alexander Swan this morning.

I think with the money you'll potentially save you can ditch your iPhone 3 and get a new phone as that emjoi button is sticking again ?

All my insurances are with Alexander swan they are much cheaper than gleaming for the item being worked on and you can actually speak to someone unlike gleaming I found them very unhelpful and positively rude in there reply’s , would never use them

 

[Iron Giant]

All my insurances are with Alexander swan they are much cheaper than gleaming for the item being worked on and you can actually speak to someone unlike gleaming I found them very unhelpful and positively rude in there reply’s , would never use them

Thanks, I have had talks with As on van insurance found the lad on the phone very polite and helpful

 

[Pjj]

Thanks, I have had talks with As on van insurance found the lad on the phone very polite and helpful

Yes they are very good I know the owner of the firm they are still a family type of business rather than a faceless multi national , not always the cheapest. But they are very good at getting genuine cover I have my kit insured for a guaranteed pay out figure of 20k per van regardless of the age of it so should it be stolen etc it won’t be a reduced payout .

 

[tench0771]

I’m with gleaming may consider switching to AS next time i renew alltho they did pay out 5k k for a load of scratch glass I didn’t scratch?

 

[Cleanco]

Cancelling your public liability insurance and taking out a credit card instead is madness IMO.PLI is NOT for property being worked on....

Besides......relying on a credit card for a few hundred quid repair is not ideal....if you ve been window cleaning for over 20 years you should at least have a fair size emergency fund(£10,000+) behind you which could easily cover the cost of a new pane of glass.

I agree on the insurance but having a family and house to run a 10 grand savings pot isn’t realistic. Maybe that’s where the credit card would come in?

 

[Cleanco]

5 million is pretty much standard these days. 1 million ain’t gonna cover much in the event of a death or life changing injury. Last time I checked there wasn’t much difference between both quotes anyway. In fact my public liability and employers liability came down by 50% last year as window cleaning is now considered a safe job according to the underwriters.

 

[dazmond]

I agree on the insurance but having a family and house to run a 10 grand savings pot isn’t realistic. Maybe that’s where the credit card would come in?

You should always have 3-6 months bill money tucked away in a bank account ready in case the need arises.have you not got an emergency fund at all then?I have £11k in mine just for emergencies as well as various other bank accounts with money invested in them(high interest accounts and nest eggs,etc)...

Even if it takes you 5 years to get a 10k-15k emergency fund together it's worth it for piece of mind

 

[Yogi1872]

You should always have 3-6 months bill money tucked away in a bank account ready in case the need arises.have you not got an emergency fund at all then?I have £11k in mine just for emergencies as well as various other bank accounts with money invested in them(high interest accounts and nest eggs,etc)...

Even if it takes you 5 years to get a 10k-15k emergency fund together it's worth it for piece of mind

The vast majority of people don't have 3 to 6 months, some people don't have enough to get them by until the end of the month never mind save. If I build up money I get lazy, crashed the van a month ago and had to hire a van for a fee weeks, got another van which was financed but had to pay £600 for a roof rack. I had money there to hire a van and roof rack but I'm not sitting with 6 months bills there.

I spend money, I still pay £200 for a t shirt or £400 for a jumper or trousers, £600 for trainers sometimes. Like holidays etc too. If I cut all that out I'd have it but am only here once and I'd rather enjoy spending the money the now while I still enjoy socialising going out than have it in the bank as an old man who's spending it on a new bunnet and walking stick.

 

[Pjj]

The vast majority of people don't have 3 to 6 months, some people don't have enough to get them by until the end of the month never mind save. If I build up money I get lazy, crashed the van a month ago and had to hire a van for a fee weeks, got another van which was financed but had to pay £600 for a roof rack. I had money there to hire a van and roof rack but I'm not sitting with 6 months bills there.

I spend money, I still pay £200 for a t shirt or £400 for a jumper or trousers, £600 for trainers sometimes. Like holidays etc too. If I cut all that out I'd have it but am only here once and I'd rather enjoy spending the money the now while I still enjoy socialising going out than have it in the bank as an old man who's spending it on a new bunnet and walking stick.

I would have thought that most businesses would have 3-6 financial cushion as a minimum especially if you employ , all charities have by law to have 3 months needed running costs in the bank. Talking to customers that run businesses they all imply 3-6 months running costs are needed as a minimum due to cash flow . If ones are struggling to manage to survive to the end of each month then they aren’t going to last long and will either go bankrupt or close down they would be better stacking shelves in Tesco .

 

[Yogi1872]

I would have thought that most businesses would have 3-6 financial cushion as a minimum especially if you employ , all charities have by law to have 3 months needed running costs in the bank. Talking to customers that run businesses they all imply 3-6 months running costs are needed as a minimum due to cash flow . If ones are struggling to manage to survive to the end of each month then they aren’t going to last long and will either go bankrupt or close down they would be better stacking shelves in Tesco .

I only have my mate out the now, which has been a good few month although he is looking for work.ive enough there to cover his wages for a few weeks if nothing paid me but that doesn't happen.

In the last 3 years I've been to different countries no less than 30 times, so 10 a year on average going away. I wouldn't like to add up what it costs me but it's only money, I'd rather be doing that enjoying myself than putting it away. Thinking about a new bathroom tbh and started looking, so depending on how much money itl cost I might need ti cut back on a few trips this year.