CARPET & UPHOLSTERY CLEANING · BELFOR FRANCHISE GROUP
CHEM-DRY
FRANCHISE
INSURANCE
A homeowner hands you their living room — the wool area rug, the upholstered sofa, the hardwood, sometimes a granite counter. You clean the very things they value most. And the thing you are most likely to damage on any job is the exact thing they hired you to clean.
That is a different risk than most trades carry, and standard general liability is built to exclude it. The carpet you over-wet, the antique rug that bleeds color, the finish you strip — a standard policy calls that "your work" or property in your "care, custody, or control," and steps back. Chem-Dry's franchise agreement actually saw this coming and wrote a requirement around it. Most franchisees still buy a policy that quietly leaves the gap open.
Chem-Dry, Inc. sets the minimum insurance in the franchise agreement. Meeting it gets you started. Making sure the coverage actually follows the items in your care is where the real protection is.
Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning · BELFOR Franchise Group
JUMP TO SECTION
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS
DAMAGE TO WHAT YOU CLEAN
OVER-WETTING AND MOLD
THEFT AND THE IN-HOME TECH
WHAT IT COSTS
BEYOND THE MINIMUM
FDD REQUIREMENTS
FAQs
$1,000,000 per occurrence
GL MINIMUM
Required: $50,000 min OR no workmanship/CCC exclusion
WORK-PRODUCT / CCC
$1,000,000 each accident
WC EMPLOYERS LIABILITY
A.M. Best A- VII or better, admitted
CARRIER RATING
9014 (Cleaning)
PRIMARY NCCI CODE
ON THIS PAGE
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS
DAMAGE TO WHAT YOU CLEAN
OVER-WETTING AND MOLD
THEFT AND THE IN-HOME TECH
WHAT IT COSTS
BEYOND THE MINIMUM
FDD REQUIREMENTS
FAQs
COVERAGE BEYOND THE FDD
SUBCONTRACTOR CERTIFICATE COMPLIANCE FOR YOUR FRANCHISE
Most home service franchisees use independent contractors or 1099 workers at some point. The coverage gap that creates is invisible until a claim surfaces — and by then the conversation is about who pays, not what was preventable.
A lapsed subcontractor certificate stays invisible until your carrier finds it. When they do, they invoke the subcontractor exclusion in your general liability policy, or add the worker's pay to your audit. The work was done. The exposure is real. The coverage is not there.
Rikor's subcontractor compliance monitoring tool tracks subcontractor certificates in real time. When one lapses, you know before the next job starts — not after the claim comes in.
FRANCHISEE QUESTIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT INSURANCE DOES A CHEM-DRY FRANCHISE REQUIRE TO OPEN?
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The 2025 Chem-Dry franchise agreement (Item 8) requires Commercial General Liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence on an occurrence form, and the policy must include work-product coverage of at least $50,000 per occurrence or carry no workmanship / care-custody-control exclusion; vehicle liability (no specific limit stated); and Workers' Compensation with Employers Liability at $1,000,000, through an admitted carrier rated A- VII or better. Confirm additional-insured and aggregate requirements from your franchise agreement, as the reviewed FDD did not specify them.
DOES MY POLICY COVER DAMAGE TO THE CARPET OR RUG I'M CLEANING?
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Only if your policy carries work-product coverage or has the care-custody-control and "your work" exclusions removed — which is exactly what your agreement requires. A standard policy without that endorsement excludes damage to the item you were cleaning, which is the most common claim in this business.
IS THE $50,000 WORK-PRODUCT LIMIT ENOUGH?
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Often not. A single antique rug, a room of wool carpet, or a hardwood or stone floor can exceed $50,000. Treat it as a floor and raise the limit to the value of the items you actually clean.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I OVER-WET A CARPET AND MOLD GROWS LATER?
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Your occurrence-form general liability can cover the water damage if your coverage was in force when you did the work, but the standard mold/fungus exclusion removes the mold remediation — usually the larger cost. Add a mold endorsement and confirm resulting water-damage coverage.
DOES MY INSURANCE COVER A TECHNICIAN WHO STEALS FROM A CLIENT'S HOME?
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Not through general liability, which excludes employee dishonesty. A third-party crime policy — not a bond — is the coverage written for it, and it pays without a conviction. The FDD does not require it; Rikor recommends $250,000 on a Loss Discovered form.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOND AND A CRIME POLICY?
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A janitorial/business-service bond is a fidelity bond that often pays only after the employee is convicted and then seeks reimbursement from your business. A third-party crime policy pays without a conviction and does not claw the money back — the better protection where a bond is not required.
DO I NEED CONTRACTORS POLLUTION LIABILITY FOR CARPET CLEANING?
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It depends on your work. The carbonating cleaner and tile/stone chemistries can trigger the standard pollution exclusion if a release or reaction causes damage. For heavier or commercial work, CPL backs up that gap.
HOW MUCH DOES CHEM-DRY FRANCHISE INSURANCE COST?
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A complete program for an owner-operator with a small crew commonly runs $6,000 to $12,000 per year, rising with revenue, added technicians, and higher work-product limits. Both general liability and workers' compensation are trued up at a year-end audit.
What a complete Chem-Dry franchise insurance program looks like
A properly built Chem-Dry program starts with the one thing the agreement got right and makes it real.
The compliance requirement gives you the frame: $1,000,000 per occurrence general liability on an occurrence form, with work-product or care-custody-control coverage so the policy can pay for damage to the items you clean, plus vehicle liability and statutory workers' compensation with $1,000,000 employers liability. Meeting that satisfies the franchisor.
The protection lives in the limits. Raise work-product / care-custody-control above the $50,000 floor to match the rugs, carpet, and floors you actually handle. Add a mold endorsement for over-wet claims, contractors pollution liability for chemical exposure, a third-party crime policy on a Loss Discovered form, EPLI, cyber, real auto limits, and an umbrella as commercial work grows.
Chem-Dry's agreement understood that the item you clean is the item you might damage. A complete program puts a real limit behind that insight.
SUBCONTRACTOR RISK
SUBCONTRACTOR CERTIFICATE COMPLIANCE ACROSS YOUR FRANCHISE
Most home service franchisees use independent contractors or 1099 workers at some point. The coverage gap this creates is not obvious until a claim surfaces — and by then, the conversation is about who pays rather than what was preventable.
A lapsed subcontractor certificate is invisible until your carrier finds it. When they do, they invoke the subcontractor exclusion in your general liability policy. The work was done. The damage is real. The coverage is not there.
Rikor's subcontractor compliance monitoring tool tracks subcontractor certificates in real time. When a certificate lapses, you know before the next job starts — not after the claim comes in.
WADE MILLWARD, CIC
Founder & CEO · Rikor Insurance
Wade Millward has spent 18 years specializing in franchise insurance. He holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation and has reviewed hundreds of franchise disclosure documents across home service, food service, and commercial franchise verticals. He has built coverage programs for Authority Brands franchisees across electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and restoration trades.