Q. How quickly can you find me a cleaner?
A. Usually within 7 to 10 days, depending on cleaner availability but often it can be faster than that.  The more flexible you can be on the day you require, the quicker a cleaner can be found. If you only want the most popular days of Thursday or Friday then it may take a little longer.

Q. How much does your service cost for a regular weekly clean?
A. The typical rate is £9.50 per hour inclusive of VAT.

This is made up of 2 elements, the cleaner's money usually around £6.50 per hour and our retainer fee of £3 per hour inclusive of VAT. (VAT is charged on the retainer fee only and NOT on the weekly amount you give to the cleaner).

The retainer fee covers our day to day expenses such as providing insurance cover for accidents and breakages.  We also endeavour to provide stand in cleaners, if required, to cover holidays and illnesses and of course the ongoing recruitment and vetting of suitable cleaners.  This is paid quarterly in advance by standing order; however the first payment is normally by cheque.

The rate above is based on a minimum of 2 hours cleaning on a weekly basis, fortnightly and one off cleans are charged at a higher rate. (see below).

Collecting the Quarterly Fees by Standing Order saves on administration and so allows up to keep the costs down, therefore for those clients who decide not to make their second and subsequent payments by standing order, an additional charge of £5 (inclusive of VAT) will be added to the quarterly fees.

Q. How much do you charge for regular Fortnightly or Monthly cleaning?
A. Clients have the same cleaner each week so, if that cleaner is only required once per fortnight her earning potential is reduced and so it is difficult to source and retain cleaners for fortnightly cleans.  In addition our insurance cover is provided on a 52 week basis, and so we have to pay for this cover whether the client has a cleaner or not.  Therefore a higher hourly rate is made for fortnightly cleaning; this is typically £11.50 per hour including VAT.  (£7.50 per hour for the cleaner and £4.00 per hour retainer fee).

Q. Why is the hourly fee split into two parts?
A. The cleaners we introduce are self employed, therefore we do not have to charge you VAT on the amount you pay to them. If we employed them and you paid the full fee to us you would have to pay us an additional 17.5% on that part of the fee.   So by them being self employed and you paying them directly, you save money.

The retainer fee is currently £3 per hour, this means that for a typical weekly clean of 2 or 3 hours an invoice would have to be raised each time for £6 or £9. This would be irritating for you, and would be time consuming and costly for us and would inevitably mean prices would increase.  By having a quarterly standing order system these costs can be kept to a minimum and so you benefit by us being able to keep our fees low.  

Q. How much do you charge for One Off or Spring Cleans?
A. We charge a booking fee of £35 payable in advance and the cleaners would expect to receive typically £10 per hour, there is no restriction on the amount of hours you can request, this is decided between yourself and the cleaner.

Q. After I sign the Standing Order when do you collect the payment?
A. As mentioned earlier the first payment is normally made by cheque, this will be presented to our bank to coincide roughly, with the date of the first clean.  The first standing order payment date will be 3 months after that commencement.

PLEASE NOTE - VERY IMPORTANT: One months notice in WRITING is required to end the agreement, this can be via email or the Royal Mail. The notice period begins from the day we receive your WRITTEN termination

Q. Do your cleaners iron?
A. Most cleaners are happy to carry out a small amount of ironing (5 or 6 shirts or similar) as part of their normal duties but If you require a lot of ironing to be done then we will ensure the lady who is selected will be prepared to include this in her duties, she would normally require an additional payment for this (usually about £1 per hour extra).

Q. Who provides the equipment and cleaning materials?
A. Normally the cleaner will use your cleaning materials in order to keep the hourly rate as low as possible. The cleaner can supply her own materials but your hourly rate would be higher. Most clients prefer to know what cleaning items are being used in their home and many have specific requirements like a particular type of polish or a scented disinfectant. 

Q. Can I ask for a specific time for my cleaner to call?
A. This often causes problems as a number of them use public transport which can, on occasions, be unreliable. It is usually better to ask for an AM or PM clean.

Q. What if I'm dissatisfied with my cleaner?
A. If the problem is minor we would recommend that you initially bring up your concerns with the cleaner, if it is more serious or if things have not improved after you have spoken with her then call us.  Let us know what your concerns are and we will do all we can to remedy the situation as quickly as possible, if that means we have to introduce a new cleaner we will do that with no quibble.  

Q. What happens if the cleaner does not come on the day of the clean?
A. Sometimes domestic emergencies and issues arise, often with little notice.  Please call us as soon as you know or suspect this has happened and we will investigate.  If required we will arrange for your cleaner to contact you and organize an alternative date to clean or if that is not possible we will either endevour to provide a replacement cleaner within 7 days or organise extra hours on a suitable date.  If you require a replacement whilst your cleaner is on holiday, please inform us as soon as you can.  One of the reasons you pay the retainer fee is for us to take on these sorts of problems so please let us know. 

Q. What happens if I am on holiday and don’t want the cleaner to call?
A. There is NO OBLIGATION to pay your cleaner if their services are not required on a particular week, however please inform your cleaner giving her as much notice as possible. The retainer fee however is not refundable.

Q. What insurance cover do you have in place?
A. Up to £2 million against accidental damage to your property or belongings. An excess of £100 does apply in all instances; full details will be supplied upon request. Our insurer is Norwich Union.

Q. Do you have a minimum number of hours?
A. Yes. The minimum number of hours is 2 per week. Any less and your cleaner would spend too much time travelling between jobs and would not earn any money!

Q. Can I change the cleaning tasks from week to week?
A. It’s entirely up to you what tasks your cleaner carries out on a weekly basis, some clients want the same things done each week, others like to have a special job done periodically and others have a monthly rota.  As long as you speak to your cleaner and she understands what is required of her then that is fine.  However, please ensure that the tasks you set are achievable in the allotted time.

Q. Can I trust the cleaner?
A. All cleaners on our database are vetted by us personally.  We visit them in their own homes to see where they live and also how they live and we make sure they are who they say they are by checking personal documentation and household bills.  References can be provided if required.

Q. Can you provide other cleaning services?
A. Time For You group also offers specialist carpet and oven cleaning services. For more information on Bone-Dry dry organic carpet cleaning go to www.bonedrycarpet.co.uk or Oven Wizards oven cleaning www.thecleanersolution.co.uk/