RESIDENTIAL CLEANING · SERVICEMASTER BRANDS
MERRY MAIDS
FRANCHISE
INSURANCE
Your cleaners are in someone's home every day. They see the jewelry on the dresser, the cash in the drawer, the watch on the nightstand. Most of the time nothing happens. Then one day a client calls and says something is missing — and points at your cleaner.
Your brand says "bonded." The bond behind that word is a third-party crime bond, and your franchise agreement sets it at $25,000. A missing-heirloom or stolen-watch claim from one home can pass that in a single accusation. The promise is right. The limit is not.
Merry Maids SPE LLC sets the minimum insurance in the franchise agreement. Meeting it opens your doors. It does not size the coverage to the exposure your own model creates — people in homes, every day.
Merry Maids SPE LLC
JUMP TO SECTION
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS
EMPLOYEE THEFT FROM A HOME
BROKEN AND DAMAGED PROPERTY
EMPLOYMENT CLAIMS
1099 OVERFLOW CLEANERS
WHAT IT COSTS
BEYOND THE MINIMUM
FAQs
$1,000,000 per occurrence
GL MINIMUM
$250,000
EPLI REQUIRED
$25,000 (third-party, employee theft)
CRIME BOND REQUIRED
$500,000 (FDD minimum)
WC EMPLOYERS LIABILITY
9014 (Janitorial / cleaning)
PRIMARY NCCI CODE
ON THIS PAGE
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS
EMPLOYEE THEFT FROM A HOME
BROKEN AND DAMAGED PROPERTY
EMPLOYMENT CLAIMS
1099 OVERFLOW CLEANERS
WHAT IT COSTS
BEYOND THE MINIMUM
FAQs
WHAT A COMPLETE MERRY MAIDS FRANCHISE INSURANCE PROGRAM LOOKS LIKE
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 RESIDENTIAL CLEANING FRANCHISE LIKE MERRY MAIDS REQUIRE?
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The 2025 Merry Maids franchise agreement requires Commercial General Liability at $1,000,000 each occurrence (with $500,000 each person bodily injury and $500,000 personal and advertising injury, including product liability) on an occurrence form, primary and non-contributory; Business Auto at $1,000,000 covering owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles with $100,000 property damage; Workers' Compensation at state limits with Employers Liability at a $500,000 minimum; Employment Practices Liability at $250,000; and a third-party crime bond at $25,000. Merry Maids SPE LLC and its related parties must be named as additional insured with a waiver of subrogation. Care, custody, and control coverage at $150,000 is strongly recommended.
WHAT IS A JANITORIAL BOND AND WHY WON'T MY GL PAY FOR EMPLOYEE THEFT?
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General liability covers accidents, not dishonesty, so it excludes theft by your own employee. A third-party crime bond — also called a janitorial or employee dishonesty bond — is the coverage written for employee theft from a customer. The Merry Maids FDD requires one at $25,000, but that limit is low for a real theft-from-a-home claim, and many bonds pay only on proven theft.
DOES MY INSURANCE COVER AN EMPLOYEE WHO STEALS FROM A CLIENT'S HOME?
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Not through general liability. The third-party crime bond is the right coverage, but at the FDD's $25,000 minimum it often falls short of the loss, and a "no proof" accusation may not trigger payment at all. Rikor recommends raising it to $250,000 on a form that responds to credible accusations.
WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CLEANER BREAKS AN EXPENSIVE ITEM?
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Standard general liability contains a care, custody, and control exclusion that removes coverage for property your cleaner was handling when it broke. Care, custody, and control insurance — recommended in the FDD at $150,000 — is the coverage written for exactly that.
DO I NEED EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES LIABILITY IF I RUN A CLEANING FRANCHISE?
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Yes — and the Merry Maids FDD requires it at $250,000. A high-turnover cleaning workforce produces wrongful-termination, discrimination, and harassment claims, and you are not automatically covered by anything the franchisor carries. Take it as a standalone policy rather than a small general liability sublimit.
DOES MY INSURANCE COVER A 1099 CLEANER I BROUGHT IN FOR OVERFLOW?
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Only if your general liability has no subcontractor exclusion or that cleaner carried her own current insurance. Separately, a 1099 cleaner who cannot show her own coverage is added to your payroll at the workers' compensation audit and charged premium. Verify certificates before work starts.
DO I NEED WORKERS' COMPENSATION FOR A CLEANING FRANCHISE WITH EMPLOYEES?
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Yes. The agreement requires it and state law requires it for any business with employees. Workers' compensation pays medical bills and lost wages for an injured cleaner, and employers liability covers related lawsuits — carry it above the FDD's $500,000 minimum, at $1,000,000.
HOW MUCH DOES MERRY MAIDS FRANCHISE INSURANCE COST?
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A complete program for a cleaning franchise with ten to twenty employees commonly runs $8,000 to $14,000 per year, driven by the labor-heavy workers' compensation line and the employment exposure. Both general liability and workers' compensation are trued up at a year-end payroll audit.
What a complete Merry Maids franchise insurance program looks like
A properly built Merry Maids program starts with the franchise agreement and then raises the limits the minimum sets too low.
The compliance requirement gives you the starting point: $1,000,000 per occurrence general liability on an occurrence form, business auto covering the cars your cleaners drive, statutory workers' compensation, EPLI at $250,000, and the required third-party crime bond — with Merry Maids SPE LLC named as additional insured. Meeting that satisfies the franchisor.
Everything beyond it reflects what residential cleaning actually is — people in homes every day. Raising the crime coverage from $25,000 to $250,000 protects the "bonded" promise your brand is sold on. Care, custody, and control coverage protects the belongings your cleaners handle. Standalone EPLI protects you against the claims a high-turnover workforce produces. Raising employers liability to $1,000,000 and adding cyber close the remaining gaps.
Merry Maids sells trust — bonded, insured cleaners in your home. The insurance program should be built so that promise holds when a claim tests it.
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.