Choosing a service voucher company: the checks you can make yourself

Ask for the accreditation number, then find the company again in your region's official list. A service voucher accreditation number is one letter followed by five digits, and the letter names the region that granted it: B for Brussels, W for Wallonia, V for Flanders — B12345, for example. A company that will not put that number in writing has already failed the first check.

Titres-Services Bruxelles states, on its page about the accreditation number consulted on 12 September 2026, that accreditation is granted by the region for an indefinite period. It is extended automatically by twelve months each time the company hands service vouchers in to Pluxee, and the region may withdraw it when twelve months pass without a single voucher being handed in. A live accreditation therefore points to a company that actually works.

The second check is made without the company. In Brussels, the list of accredited companies is kept by Brussels Economy and Employment, under the « Company directories » section of its website. In Wallonia, the regional portal runs a search engine for accredited companies: the postal code is a mandatory field, and the search also accepts the company name, the enterprise number or the accreditation number, with a filter per service — cleaning, ironing, shopping, transport.

No: the price of a service voucher is set by the region, not by the accredited company. A company announcing its own tariff for the voucher itself is announcing something other than the official price, and that is a signal worth taking seriously. The three regions apply three different scales, recorded from the official portals on 12 September 2026.

These tiers count per person and per calendar year. What genuinely differs between companies is therefore not those amounts, but the extra fees charged alongside the vouchers and the content of the written agreement. Every tier, including the ones that apply to a whole household, is on our prices by region page.

In Brussels, extra fees may be charged, and there has been no cap since 1 January 2026. Brussels Economy and Employment announced it on 2 January 2026: the per-voucher cap that had applied to administrative fees since 1 January 2025 is abolished, fees may not be unreasonable, they require the user's agreement, and they must correspond to real, justified costs. One rule does not move in any of the three regions: these fees are never paid with service vouchers.

In Wallonia there is no cap either, but the framework is spelled out. The Walloon service voucher portal and the SPW Emploi FAQ set six cumulative conditions: the fees may not be paid with service vouchers, they must be communicated before the services start, they require the user's explicit agreement, they appear in the contract or in an addendum, they cannot be applied retroactively, and the company must be able to justify the amounts with a calculation document. They may be charged per hour, per voucher, or as a monthly, quarterly or annual flat fee.

The Walloon legal background explains why these fees still exist. A ban on extra fees came into force in Wallonia on 1 January 2024; the Council of State suspended it on 4 October 2024, following appeals by accredited companies, and that suspension remains in force pending the decision on the merits. Walloon extra fees are therefore lawful today.

In Flanders, extra fees are allowed with no legal cap, but since 1 February 2025 they must appear in a written contract stating the amount, the frequency and the method of calculation. They must be accepted by the user, correspond to real and reasonable costs, and be clearly explained.

Yes, in Brussels as in Wallonia. In Brussels, the written agreement between the accredited company and the user has been mandatory since 1 January 2025: new users sign it before the first service, and users already registered had to have signed it before 1 July 2025, failing which no service may be carried out at all. The model agreement is supplied by Brussels Economy and Employment.

A Brussels accredited company that ignores this obligation faces warnings, the blocking of its account, or exclusion for up to one year. A Brussels company suggesting that the cleaning start now and the agreement be sorted out later is therefore offering a service that may not be carried out.

In Wallonia, the accredited company must likewise conclude a written agreement with each user. The SPW Emploi FAQ sets its minimum content, and that Walloon list works as a reading grid for any agreement.

Read the cancellation clause before signing: it is the line that weighs most over time, and it is the agreement that sets it. How the system works in general is set out on our how it works page.

In Brussels, yes, for every new user registered since 1 January 2025. The accredited company must organise a prior visit to the home before the first service, in order to safeguard the worker's safety and wellbeing. Users already registered before that date are exempt.

A Brussels accredited company that does not offer that visit to a new user is not complying with the regulation. For the user, the visit has a second, very practical use: it is the moment when the floor area, the equipment available and the tasks expected are discussed, before they are written into the agreement.

The accredited company pays, because it is the employer. The Walloon service voucher portal and the SPW Emploi FAQ state the rule: the accredited company is civilly liable for the damage its workers cause at the user's home. The cleaner's personal liability is limited to intentional fault, serious fault and repeated minor fault. That rule is not a regional one: it follows from the status of employer under Belgian civil law, and the wording used here is the one published by the Walloon sources.

The company may take out insurance to cover that risk. SPW Emploi adds that where there is no insurance, the accredited company compensates the user itself: what is owed is the compensation. The useful question before signing is therefore not « are you liable », which the rule has already answered, but « are you covered by public liability insurance, and what is left for me to pay ». Ask it in writing, and keep the answer.

Under a written, individual contract, drawn up within two working days at the latest. The Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue sets it out on its page about the service voucher employment contract: a written declaration of intent is required before the first service, and the contract must be recorded in writing for each worker, under the Act of 3 July 1978.

Fixed-term contracts are limited to the first three months following the first Dimona declaration. From the first day of the fourth month, the working relationship necessarily becomes an open-ended contract, under the Act of 20 July 2001. These rules are federal: they apply in all three regions, whichever region granted the accreditation.

Service voucher workers come under joint subcommittee 322.01, which sets their pay through collective agreements, and the maximum working week is 38 hours. A company talking about self-employed cleaners, volunteers or a « flexible » status is stepping outside the system: in the service voucher scheme, the home cleaner is a salaried employee of the accredited company.

Only work or local services of a domestic nature, for private individuals. The Federal Public Service Employment distinguishes two places: at the user's home, cleaning and ironing; away from the home, the ironing workshop, the shopping and the transport of people with reduced mobility.

Any service for the benefit of a business is expressly forbidden in the service voucher scheme. A shop, a practice or a professional office is not cleaned with service vouchers. An accredited company that agrees to that arrangement exposes its client as much as itself. What a service voucher hour actually covers is set out on our home cleaning page.

Brussels Economy and Employment also recalls that accredited Brussels companies have obligations towards their workers, towards Brussels households and towards the administration, in particular as regards recruitment, continuing training and the supervision of home cleaners, and that they are subject to its inspections and sanctions.

The right contact depends on your region, and this is where people most often go wrong. In Brussels, it is Brussels Economy and Employment that grants accreditations and carries out inspections and sanctions: Place Saint-Lazare 2, 1035 Brussels, 02 800 34 99.

In Wallonia, the Forem service voucher desk can be reached at titresservices@forem.be and on 071 23 15 53, and the Consumer Ombudsman is at mediationconsommateur.be. The Forem is the Walloon body: a user living in Brussels does not write to the Forem, even when the company being challenged also works in Wallonia.

Before any step, take out your written agreement and write to the accredited company, dating the facts. A written, dated file is worth more than a phone call. Milhomem Group is a service voucher company based at Avenue Paul Dejaer 9, in 1060 Saint-Gilles: to put these ten questions before signing anything, use our contact page, or ask for a free quote setting out the rhythm and any fees.