Working from home and your insurance

Working from home and your insurance

As working from home is particularly prevalent in a Covid-19 world, many of our customers have been asking us about home-working and how that may affect their insurances. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and their answers: –

I have home contents insurance, does that cover my work equipment too?

The short answer is probably not, although there are a few things to consider here. Firstly, who owns and who paid for the equipment? If you purchased the equipment personally then your home insurance may provide some cover. However, it is important to check as sometimes equipment used for business purposes is excluded. In most cases, your business equipment will have been a business expense and it is therefore very unlikely that your home insurance will cover it, even if that is where you work from. You should therefore ensure that your business insurance includes cover for your equipment. When choosing a policy, you need to consider where you may take your equipment and whether that policy will cover you. Here at ipro, our business equipment section provides worldwide cover, so you can even take it on holiday with you!

Do I need to tell my home insurer I am working from home?

It depends what you are doing. Most home insurance policies allow ‘clerical work’ to be undertaken at home. This essentially means that any computer-based work will be acceptable, however, you should check with your individual home insurer to ensure that you are meeting any requirements they may have. If, however, you are having business visitors to your home or doing any form of manual work then you must tell your home insurer, failure to do so could invalidate your policy in the event of a claim.

I have clients coming to my home for meetings from time to time, what insurance cover do I need?

If you have clients coming to your home, it is important that you ensure that your business insurance has public liability cover attached to it. Just remember that compensation payments for slips, trips and falls can get into seriously eye-watering figures, so it’s important to make certain that you have the right insurance in place for protecting yourself and your business.

Most home insurance policies do not allow or provide protection for business visitors. Even if your business has a public liability insurance in place, it’s important that you advise your home insurer. This would be considered a material fact to which you have a duty to advise them.

Will my home insurance cover me for a mistake I have made in the course of my work if I work from home?

No – if you are offering a service or advice in any form to your clients then you must have a professional indemnity policy in place. A professional indemnity policy can cover you for the cost of defending a claim and any award that may be made against you. It can even provide protection in a situation whereby you have been accused of making a mistake but have not actually done anything wrong.