Damages during the clean – what you need to know

As a booking platform, Helpling brings local cleaners together with people who need help in their domestic cleaning. Helpling provides only cleaners who work independently – i.e. self-employed individuals. Part of the responsibility of a self-employed person is to have their own public liability insurance. Helpling informs the prospect cleaners who wish to use our platform about their responsibility regarding damages and insurance policies.

If a cleaner does not have his/her own liability insurance in the event of a damage, Helpling has taken out as a precaution a public liability insurance to help customers in this unfortunate situation.

Helpling’s public liability insurance is an additional service designed to give customers the highest level of security. The aim is to protect them from major damages.

What happens in the event of a claim?

If something has been damaged at your property during the booking, we ask you to send us an email to info@helpling.co.uk for damage over EUR 500 (the “Deductible”) within 24 hours. If the damage exceeds the amount of the Deductible, we will inform our insurance broker, who will examine the case and initiate further steps. In the event that the damage exceeds the amount of the Deductible and the insurer decides to settle the claim, we point out that our insurance settles only the difference between the Deductible and the value of the claim. This means that the service provider – in this case the cleaner – is responsible for payment of the Deductible (current exchange rate will be used to evaluate the amount in GBP).

In cases where the value of the damage is below the Deductible, insurance claims cannot be submitted via Helpling. In such instances, we recommend that the customer contact the cleaner directly to settle.

Since the cleaners work on an independent basis (self-employed individuals), we have no authority over them and, unfortunately, we are unable to intervene in case of non-compliance. It is up to the customer whether he/she would like to take further steps in order to assert the right to compensation from the cleaner. It is important to note that the decision on whether to settle the claim lies with the insurer, and their decision is final. The overall procedure may take some time but rest assured we will try and keep you up to date throughout the whole process.

The Terms & Conditions for you as a customer can be found here.