Home office insurance – because home insurance may not cover you
As the parameters of the working world continue to change, and more and more people are setting up in business on their own, the home office has become a regular feature of many modern homes. As long as there is a phone line and broadband access, a large spare room can be just as comfortable and practical a place to work as a big commercial office. However, one thing you need to remember about working from home is that not all home insurance policies will cover your office equipment or anything else you have in your ‘home office’ connected to work. And if you employ people who come to your house to work, or you have work meetings in your home then you’ll need to adhere to health and safety regulations too. This is why it’s important to take out specific home office insurance.
Some insurers will offer a complete home office insurance package which will include elements like contents cover, professional indemnity and public liability insurance, while with others you’ll be able to select only the cover you need. Essentially your considerations will be the same as they would be if you were working in a commercial office, so it’s up to you to decide what cover is most important for you. However, as homes tend to be more vulnerable to burglaries than security protected offices, the first thing on your list should be home office contents cover. This will insure things like your laptop or desktop computer, fax machine, printer, mobile phone and any other valuable equipment you need for your business. Most insurers will offer cover up to the value of at least £10,000 as standard, which should be more than adequate for most home based businesses. However you may be able to increase the level of cover by paying a little more, if, for example, you have very valuable hardware and software.
The types of people covered by home office insurance include those who provide a service, for example, web designers or marketing consultants, those who sell products from home (including ebay sellers) and those who make products, for example wedding cakes, pottery or greetings cards. Each home business will have different needs and if you’re a small operation it may not be necessary to have a complete home business package. If this sounds like you and you don’t think you’ll need something like public liability cover, then shop around and find a provider who offers a package that you can tailor to suit you. After all, there’s no point paying for cover that you don’t need.
