Hiring a cleaner is unusual among household purchases: you are giving a stranger access to your home, often while you are not in it. Most people ask about price and availability, and nothing else. These are the questions that matter more.
1. Is the person coming police-cleared?
Not the company — the individual who will be in your house. Ask whether every cleaner is checked, and whether that includes subcontractors. Plenty of operators check their own employees and then subcontract the overflow to people they have never checked.
There is no reason for a company to be vague about this. If the answer is hedged, that is your answer.
2. Are they insured, and for what?
Public liability covers damage to your property. Workers compensation covers the cleaner if they are injured in your home — which matters to you, because an uninsured worker injured on your property can become your problem. Ask for both.
3. Will it be the same person each visit?
This sounds like a comfort question. It is actually a quality question.
A cleaner who has been to your home eight times knows which tap marks, which floor cannot take much water, and that you would rather the study was left alone. A different person every fortnight is starting from zero every fortnight, and you will spend the first ten minutes of every visit re-explaining your own house.
It is also a security question. Consistency means a small, known set of people have had access to your home, rather than a rotating roster.
4. How is the price worked out?
There are two models, and the difference matters.
Priced by the hour
You pay for time. If the job runs long, you pay more. The incentive runs the wrong way, and you cannot know the cost in advance.
Priced on the job
You agree a figure for a defined scope before anyone starts. If it takes longer than expected, that is the cleaner's problem, not your invoice. We quote this way for exactly that reason — the number you are told is the number you pay.
Either way, ask what is not included. Most disputes are not about the rate, they are about scope.
5. What happens if I am not happy?
Ask for the specific remedy, not reassurance. "We'd sort it out" is not a policy. "Tell us within 24 hours and we come back and redo it at no cost" is.
Then ask how long you have to raise it, and whether raising it costs you anything.
6. Am I locked in?
A regular clean should be worth keeping on its own merits. If a company needs a minimum term to hold onto you, ask yourself what that says about the retention rate.
Check the notice period, any cancellation fee, and whether you can pause the service while you are away without penalty.
7. Who do I speak to when something goes wrong?
Not the booking system — a person. Find out whether you can reach someone who can actually make a decision, or whether every issue becomes a ticket.
One more, if you are hiring privately: a cleaner working cash-in-hand with no ABN, no insurance and no check is cheaper for a reason. That saving is the cost of the risk, and the risk sits with you.
Red flags worth walking away from
- A quote given without asking a single question about the property
- Reluctance to confirm police checks or insurance in writing
- Pressure to sign a contract on the first call
- A price far below everyone else with no explanation of what is being left out
- A bond-back guarantee that promises your whole bond rather than the cleaning
Our answers
For what it is worth, here are ours: every cleaner is police-cleared and insured before they enter a property; you get the same cleaner on a regular clean; we quote a fixed price on the job rather than by the hour; if something is not right, tell us within 24 hours and we redo it free; there are no lock-in contracts; and when you ring, you speak to the people who run the business.
You can read more about how we work, or ask us these questions directly — we would rather you asked them of everyone you are considering, including us.
