This is the deal between you and Clear by 7. It covers clearby7.com, the free Block Check and firm-price requests, and, once you say “Route me,” your season pass for Dec. 1, 2026 to Mar. 31, 2027.
Season one
Winter 2026–27 is Clear by 7’s first season. Routes start Dec. 1, 2026 on Chicago’s North and Northwest Sides, in Evanston and in Oak Park, with local partner crews doing the shoveling. Blocks outside those starting areas get a yes or a no for this winter by Nov. 25, 2026.
Plans can shift in a first season. When a change touches your request or your pass, you hear about it by email. If Clear by 7 ends up not launching, you’ll be told and your information deleted.
Checking costs nothing
Running Block Check and asking for a firm price are free. Neither one is a contract, and neither one costs anything. A pass begins only when you press “Route me” on the payment page linked from your firm-price email and pay the $49 deposit. Nothing is ever charged on this website.
What a pass covers
A season pass runs Dec. 1, 2026 to Mar. 31, 2027 and includes up to 20 visits to the parts of the property named in your firm price: the public sidewalk across your frontage (on a corner lot, the side sidewalk and the corner ramps too), the front walk, the front stairs, the garage apron and any add-ons you picked. Ice melt goes down on stairs and walks at every visit.
One inch or more of new snow since the last visit triggers a visit. The crew measures it on your walk and the route desk checks it against the nearest National Weather Service report. The pass never renews by itself; another winter starts only if you say yes again. Every quote issued before Dec. 15, 2026 keeps its price.
Deadlines Clear by 7 is bound by
These times are part of the agreement, and the time stamp on each visit photo shows whether they were met.
- Overnight snow of 1 to 8 inches that stops by 4 a.m.: cleared by 7:00 a.m.
- Still snowing at 4 a.m. with an inch down: a first pass by 7:00 a.m., then a final pass by 10 a.m. if it stops before 7, or within 4 hours of stopping if it stops later.
- More than 8 inches overnight: cleared by 10:00 a.m.
- Daytime snow: cleared within 4 hours of stopping and never later than 10 p.m.
- A storm that lasts all day: up to two passes in 24 hours, each counted as one included visit.
- Shoveled snow goes on your parkway or yard, never into the street, a bike lane, a bus pad or a parking space. Apron snow is piled beside the garage, not in the alley.
When a deadline is missed
Every missed deadline earns you one-tenth of your pass, paid back or held as credit toward next season, as you prefer. The photo time stamp decides; there is no claim form. Clear by 7 funds the credit, not your crew.
If the winter is light
If official snowfall at O’Hare from Dec. 1, 2026 to Mar. 31, 2027 comes in under 20.0 inches, we refund 20% of your pass by Apr. 30, 2027, to every active pass.
Deposit and payments
To hold a spot on a route, you pay a $49 deposit on the payment processor’s page linked from your firm-price email. The deposit counts toward the pass. You can get it back on request until your first visit, and it is refunded automatically if your route hasn’t opened by Dec. 15, 2026.
The balance is charged on Dec. 1, 2026, or split: half, rounded up, on Dec. 1 and the rest on Jan. 4, 2027. It is charged only after you have your crew’s name and a copy of its insurance certificate.
Cancelling, refunds and visits past 20
You may cancel at any time. Cancel before the first visit and you get everything back. After that, the refund is what you paid minus one-eleventh of the pass for each completed visit.
If a heavy winter uses all 20 included visits, each further visit costs one-fifteenth of the pass. You get an email before any extra visit is billed and can turn it down. If the City of Chicago starts clearing your block, Clear by 7 refunds the unused share of your pass.
Outside the pass
Unless your firm price says otherwise, these are not part of the pass:
- Roofs and ice dams
- Rear porches and stairs above ground level
- Parking lots, private alleys, commercial property and buildings with 5+ units
- Hauling snow away
- Digging out cars walled in by the street plow
- Chipping thick ice (we treat it with ice melt)
- Snow under 1 in., unless dusting runs are added
- Pre-storm salting
- Damage from objects hidden under snow that weren’t marked or reported
Photos, gates and hidden hazards
Crews photograph the cleared property after every visit, never people or plates, and the photos are kept for 12 months. When you sign up, tell the route desk about gates and gate codes, hidden steps, loose pavers, low curbs and concrete poured in the last 12 months; new concrete gets sand instead of ice melt.
Clear by 7 isn’t responsible for damage caused by objects hidden under the snow that weren’t marked or reported.
Who does the shoveling
Visits are carried out by independent local landscaping crews that Clear by 7 contracts for the season. Every crew must carry general liability insurance that covers snow and ice work, and before your first visit the route desk emails you the crew’s name and a copy of its certificate. Work that legally requires a license is handed only to a business holding that license.
Posted prices
Prices posted on clearby7.com are honored for every request sent while they’re posted. A written quote departs from them only when the job isn’t the one you described.
Limits on liability
clearby7.com is offered as is. To the full extent the law allows, Clear by 7 bears no liability for indirect or consequential loss. Consumer protection rights you hold by law are untouched by these terms.
Questions about this agreement
Ask the route desk through the message form, before you pay or mid-season. Its answer comes by email, which puts it in writing.