AIBU to cancel my cleaner agency agreement and carry on using the cleaner directly?

[Shopaholic107]

I’ve been paying a company who introduced me to a cleaner for eight months but I’m not getting any continued benefit for the money. They introduced me to a self-employed cleaner, who I pay directly, and I also pay the company a monthly fee (£35).

Since the introduction, I’ve never had any reason to contact the company. I deal with the cleaner directly if there are any issues, and the company has never checked in to see how things are going.

I recently asked the cleaner about the arrangement, and she told me that the company doesn’t pay her anything and she only has a couple of clients through them. She also said they don’t provide her with insurance. I know they don’t pay her, as that was never part of the arrangement, but I was surprised about the insurance because my contract specifically says they provide public liability insurance of at least £2 million for cleaners they introduce.

I’ve looked at my contract and it says I can cancel with one calendar month’s notice, but if I carry on using the same cleaner within 12 months of cancelling, they can charge me £500.

I’m a bit torn about what to do. On one hand, they did introduce me to the cleaner, so I can see that they’ve provided a service. On the other hand, I’m paying them £35 every month for what seems to be very little ongoing support. They also took a few weeks longer than they were supposed to to find me a cleaner, and during that time they still wanted to charge me.

I’m tempted to cancel the agreement and carry on using the cleaner directly. The cleaner has said she won’t tell them, and obviously I wouldn’t either. There’s a risk of them finding out and charging me £500, but I’m not sure how they’d know as they’re not in regular contact with us and don’t know her schedule. I arranged days and times for cleaning with her direct. I also wonder whether that clause would even be enforceable given the potential issue with the insurance they say they provide and it equating to over a year’s fees if I carried on paying the monthly charge (could be seen as unfair terms).

I’m also conscious that they introduced us, and I don’t want to be unfair just because I don’t think they’re providing much value for the monthly fee.

AIBU to cancel and carry on using the cleaner directly?

The agency are likely to dump the cleaner if they find out, but she may not be bothered about that..

Did the agency DBS check the cleaner?

They're absolute scammers. They're the equivalent of the cleaner doing a single clean for you and then expecting you to pay her again and again for that one clean every month without her ever coming back. Frankly, I would have thought that a single £35 payment was recompense enough for them probably Googling 'cleaners in Anytown', making a couple of phone calls or sending a couple of emails or texts and matching you up with one who had availability.

I bet they're the 'textbook' rip-off company that couldn't care less about you and do nothing at all whilst you're paying them, but the instant you stop paying/tell them you're leaving, they'll be nice-as-pie proactive and/or coming at you with all of their legal threats and T&Cs, for fear of their golden goose dying. Hardly any different from charities who happily take large sums from you by direct debit for years and years, without a whimper of any update or a thank you; yet the instant you cancel your DD, they suddenly remember that you exist and they're your new best mate.

I'd be prepared for them viewing your cancellation solely from their perspective, and not letting it lie. Obviously, they wouldn't ever admit/accept that you're wanting to stop being rinsed by them, so they will read this as "I am no longer wanting a cleaner" or "I am no longer happy with THIS cleaner". Thus don't be surprised if their response is to bombard you with patronising reasons as to how a cleaner can help you lighten the load, give you more free time and make your life happier, and is a great 'investment'; or otherwise insist that they can find you a new cleaner who will tick your boxes ongoing (with no hint of apology that the one you've been paying them for recommending apparently no longer does). Even if you lied and told them you were moving to another area, you'll find that 'you're in luck', as they (or an associated company for that area, whose website just happens to redirect to their own) are also able to offer their 'services' across the wider region/nationwide.

They don't care about you as a person, but they DO see you as the source of their £35 a month that they somehow feel entitled to, so they absolutely will not want to let you get away with stopping paying them if they can possibly help it - whether with carrot, stick or both.

Indeed. You may even find that any insurance they have - and are proudly trumpeting - is only to protect themselves against rogue cleaners or customer complaints threatening their monthly gravy train; but none that would ever actually benefit the cleaners themselves or the customers.

After all, it's a very 'look after number 1 and stuff everybody else' business model by design.

I did this but I waited two years. I figured that was an ample amount of time and they had had a lot off money from me for doing nothing - never once asked about the service; never asked if we needed holiday cover

I passed the extra money to my cleaner directly and she is still with me five years later. No regrets.

I’d do it. Don’t say anything about them not providing a service or you intending to carry on with the cleaner, just give notice because their services are no longer required.

Their business model seems very much to follow the other countless 'subscription by inertia' models, whereby they base their profits on people just not knowing/noticing that they're being charged a monthly sub, being wealthy and not caring or not getting around to cancelling... only with them, they murmur vague claims of insurance, and probably also hope that people who do see the charge going out will mentally associate it with the overall cost of the cleaner whom they do need and gladly pay for, and not really twig that they make two separate payments: one to her for all of her regular hard work; and one to 'Acme Cleaning Agency' for...um, er.......

Even if they did offer full public liability insurance, £35 a month would be a colossal premium to have to pay, considering the minuscule level of risk of catastrophic consequences of somebody cleaning your house. Young, healthy people can insure their whole lives for a fraction of that - with potential payouts of millions of pounds predicated on tragic events that happen to people all of the time.

Thanks for all the responses. It’s reassuring that the general opinion is to cancel. I’ve sent an email to the company to give notice so will see what I get back 🤞🏻