| Does your insurance work from home when you do? |
|
Working from home has become increasingly common, but what insurance do you need to cover the risks?
Working from home is becoming more common as people have the ability to work online because with the wide availability of broadband communication.
Having an office at home is no problem for any Insurer, most of whom automatically include home-office activity in the cover domestic policy. However, cover can be affected by the nature of the activity. For example, if you run your own business from home and then employ someone, you may have to take out a full office combined policy. A lot of people undertake child minding. It may start off as a casual exercise and as is often the case, can grow into a regular and well-paid job. This will almost certainly invalidate your home insurance. If you have frequent visitors to your home because you are a hairdresser, beautician, dressmaker or therapist, you will need the correct cover under a separate policy. You can however provide B&B and have up to four or even six paying guests with some standard home policies. When you buy a policy online with a direct Insurer, you must read the terms and conditions very carefully as you do not have an experienced Broker to identify your needs and guide you. Savings mean nothing if the protection you need is lacking in any area. It’s not just ensuring you have the correct cover for the activity you undertake but also whether such activity may invalidate your policy. For example, we saw a situation some time ago where a lady lacquered small items of furniture for her son’s business. She carried this out in her double garage. Quite unrelated, a small fire started in her utility room adjoining the garage. It reached a container of highly flammable lacquer, which ignited, and another 5 containers exploded. The house was seriously damaged and the Insurer declined to pay, because not only were they unaware of the activity but also the premises were seriously exposed to higher than normal fire risk. A broker will always be on the lookout for unusual elements when quoting for your business and can then choose the right Insurer at an equitable cost. |