What to ask a cleaning company before you hire one on Martha's Vineyard

Insurance

Ask for a certificate for each kind of insurance below, and check the company name and the dates on it. A certificate shows the policy on the day it was issued; you can call the insurer named on it to ask whether the policy is still in force.

General liability

The US Small Business Administration describes general liability insurance as protection against financial loss from bodily injury, property damage and medical expenses. Ask what the limits are. Source: US Small Business Administration

Theft or fidelity coverage

Ask separately whether the company has coverage for theft by its own workers, sometimes called a janitorial bond or a fidelity bond, and how a claim would work.

Workers' compensation

Massachusetts law requires every employer to provide workers' compensation for its employees, through an insurer or an approved form of self insurance (chapter 152, section 25A of the General Laws). If the company has employees, ask for its workers' compensation certificate. Source: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 152, section 25A

Who employs the cleaner also matters for taxes. The IRS says that if an agency provides the worker and controls what work is done and how it is done, the worker is not your employee. Source: Internal Revenue Service

If you hire a person directly rather than a company, the rules can be different. For example, chapter 152 is elective for employers of seasonal, casual or part-time domestic workers, where part time means less than 16 hours a week. Ask an insurance agent or an accountant about your own case. Source: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 152, section 1

The business name

In Massachusetts, anyone doing business under a name other than their own real name must file a certificate with the clerk of each city or town where they have an office (chapter 110, section 5). Ask the company for its legal name and the town where it filed. Source: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 110, section 5

References

Ask for references from clients with houses like yours, ideally other seasonal houses on the island, and call them. Ask how long they have used the company, whether the same people come each time, and how a problem was handled.

Supplies and equipment

Ask who brings the supplies, the vacuum and the linens, and whether the price changes if you provide them. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you want certain products used or avoided, say so before the first visit.

Keys and codes

Keys, lockbox codes and alarm codes go directly from you to the company you hire. Do not send them through a website form or to anyone else, and that includes mvhousecleaning.com, which never holds keys or codes.

Ask the company how it stores keys and codes, who on its staff can see them, and what happens to them if you stop using it. Change the codes when a company stops working for you.

The scope and price in writing

Before the first visit, get the scope and the price in writing: which rooms and tasks, how often, what counts as extra, how you will pay and how either side can cancel.

Massachusetts consumer protection law makes unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce unlawful (chapter 93A, section 2). A written agreement gives you and the company the same record of what was promised. Source: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93A, section 2

What mvhousecleaning.com checks

Before listing a company, we ask for proof of insurance and for references. That is a starting point for your own questions, and the company you choose is still yours to check.

The how it works page sets out the steps of an introduction and who pays whom.

mvhousecleaning.com introduces homeowners on Martha's Vineyard to independent cleaning companies that cover their town. It does not clean houses, and it never holds keys or codes. Cleaning companies pay mvhousecleaning.com a flat fee for each new client introduced, and homeowners pay nothing. A person reads every request and replies to it.