Terms & Conditions of Services

Payments

All bookings are payable in advance or on the day of cleaning at the latest using the online booking and invoice payment system. We will usually invoice you a few days in advance, with payment expected by the day of cleaning. Late payments incur a late payment charge of £2 per day. For ease and peace of mind, we suggest clients pay monthly or quarterly in advance.
For first visits with new clients a non-refundable deposit of a minimum of £25 is due before any work commences and bookings are confirmed. This deposit will be used against any set up charges. The fee will be deducted from the 2nd and 3rd cleans.
Cash payments are not normally accepted and incur a surcharge of £5, per payment.
Minimum work: 3 hours work is our normal minimum session charge. If we agree to hours less than this, the hourly rate maybe increased, or discount decreased.

Conditions

We don't work at height above 2 steps on our step ladders or any other ladder. This generally has limited impact but, cleaning tops of cupboards, ceilings, skylights, high windows and landings may not be possible, other than by attachments to dusters etc.
Furniture, other than small, lightweight items (kitchen chairs or bar stools) will not be able to be moved to clean behind/under. I.e. sofas and armchairs, tables. Any such items will normally be highlighted in the estimating session.
Pets – please note pets can be a nuisance when cleaning and some of our cleaners are afraid of dogs, in particular. We ask that any pets, dogs in particular, or any unusual or dangerous animals are removed from the property or at least the rooms being cleaned. Animals should not greet cleaners at the door. Standards of cleanliness are harder to deliver with pets – please note!
We understand clients have security cameras internally, this is acceptable, but we ask you to declare them to us. Our staff should not be tracked, whilst on the job.
For all jobs over 2 hours, we provide our staff with 5 minutes paid break per hour over 2 hours. This is included within the hours we estimated for you i.e. you pay for the break.
Most of the chemicals we use are suitable for household use. We will highlight any safety concerns in advance of using any harsher or dangerous chemicals. On our web site there is a list of all the chemicals we generally use. Link here.
Clients should notify us of any allergies or concerns in advance of any cleaning session.
We ask our clients to vacate the rooms actually being cleaned, to avoid contact with any chemicals/sprays and minimise distractions for our staff.
On initial estimate and start of each clean we undertake a shot risk assessment to identify any potential hazards. Please try to ensure there are none and if builders or decorators are present, we will ideally need to work in different areas.

Scope of cleaning

In the quote a cleaning checklist will be agreed with by the client. See a copy of the checklist on the website blog: www.cosycleaners.co.uk/post/checklist-creates-scope-of-work-accurate-quote
Aspects of cleaning that are not standard, depending on the service i.e. kitchen cupboard tops, fridge and oven and microwave internals. These additional items can be agreed in advance and will take additional time and cost or will replace other items on the priority check list.
Estimates, especially those provided remotely, are a guide only and may need to be adjusted after first visit or if the property condition deteriorates or is initially worse than expected. Conditions that may change the time taken include visitors, pets, construction work etc.

General

We will usually wear slippers/pumps or overshoes and will leave outdoor shoes inside the front door.
The Client agrees not to directly or indirectly solicit, hire, or engage any staff member or contractor of Cosy Cleaners for any cleaning or related services outside this agreement.
Cosy Cleaners agrees to keep all Client information confidential and not to disclose any details to third parties without the Client’s prior consent.
Photos – we will not take general photos of the house unless otherwise agreed, except we may take photographs near field to show the condition of surfaces and issues/items before and after cleaning, particularly if there is an area of concern and the Client is absent. We occasionally may ask your permission to use general pictures for marketing purposes.
Cosy Cleaners will supply all necessary cleaning equipment and materials unless otherwise agreed. If the Client prefers the use of specific cleaning products, they must be provided by the Client and we should be made aware of any cautions or hazardous chemicals and made aware of any special instructions for use. Our charges are not reduced if you provide equipment and chemicals, as they are a very small part of our overall costs and overheads.
Our business aims to provide quality and reliability in the service we offer. Therefore, whilst our normal model is to provide the same person week in and week out, occasionally due to sickness, holidays or other operational issues, we may have to substitute a member of staff or change the day or time of the service. This is necessary to maintain our operational efficiency. A prebooked service will not and cannot be cancelled by you due to a change of staff. We will try to inform you as far in advance as practical of any changes.
If you wish to “choose” a specific member of staff this is currently not generally available, other than by paying our premium rates, generally £5 per hour higher than standard rates. There will still be times where a staff member needs to be substituted.

Attendance & Cancellation

With regular cleaning you are effectively allocated a regular slot that you pay for, normally weekly, and we provide that service every week, except on public holidays – this commitment from you is rewarded with our best hourly rate, your preferred slot and consistent staffing.

We will make reasonable endeavours to attend within plus/minus 10 minutes of scheduled time.

For regular bookings, scheduled times cannot be cancelled but can be varied within 2 working days either side, subject to availability and our agreement, given a minimum of 5 days' notice.

If clients are away and for any reason the property inaccessible, then access needs to be provided. If we have had no communication and cannot access the property within 15 minutes of scheduled start time, we will leave the site, however, the booking and cleaning fee will be forfeit if paid and if not already paid, the fee is still due.

This agreement may be terminated by either party with 14 days' written notice or by email. If either party breaches any terms of this understanding, the other party may terminate immediately. We can enter into a formal contract agreement, should you desire. We normally do this for any commercial work.

Holidays

We do not normally work on public/bank holidays, unless otherwise agreed and the rates will be above your standard rate. If your cleaning falls on a public holiday, most commonly a Monday, we will not clean on that day. You will not be charged for this non clean. Easter and Christmas and New Year may impact other days.
For public holidays we assume you would like to continue regular cleaning and therefore we will contact you to make alternative arrangements, if possible, ideally in the same week.
If you are on holiday, you should make key arrangements, so we can access the property. We will normally charge and work whilst you are on holiday. Unless agreed in advance, which we don’t normally do. We will charge the cleaning slot fee, for non-access to a property, whilst you are away.
If our regular staff for your job is on holiday on one of your cleaning days, we will make reasonable endeavours to perform the job, at the same time, with an alternative cleaner. You cannot refuse the service and retain the same slot/price etc unless the fee is paid for a non-clean.

Liabilities

Cosy Cleaners will take reasonable care while providing cleaning services. However, Cosy Cleaners is not liable for any damage or loss unless caused unless proven to be by gross negligence.

The Client is responsible for identifying, moving and securing fragile or valuable items before the cleaning session and items should be insured within the home with accidental damage cover.

We provide public liability and employee liability insurance coverage, but client should ensure their house contents insurance has accidental damage and sufficient cover.

Complaints

Quality – if you have any issue with our service then please get in contact. Post a job completion you have 24 hours to inform us of any concerns for us to rectify an issue. The reason for this is items like cobwebs and flaking paint can become an issue within hours of a clean.

If you are present during the clean, we will normally ask for your inspection and acceptance of the service / quality at the end of the session.

If you have verbally agreed or signed off on paper or our team’s mobile app, it is “unusual” to subsequently complain about an item. If there items which we all missed, then these can be rectified , at our choice and convenience and monitored going forward.

We will endeavour to rectify issues where they are fair and reasonable. This can be bya further visit, rectification on a following visit or potentially we may offer a credit against future work.

Occasionally, for various reasons, a job may not be performed to the client’s satisfaction. However, this is somewhat subjective, and we always try to ensure reasonable care and ensure a quality job is undertaken.

For thefts or missing items in your property we are developing a policy on this, though this has never occurred with our staff. In the meantime, if there any concerns in this regard then please inform the management promptly.