Home Insurance and Working from Home

Under normal circumstances, working from home certainly does affect your home insurance policy.  A typical home contents insurance policy would cover many of the belongings in your home, such as your furniture, appliances, clothing, jewellery and decorations will be covered against theft and damage, but professional equipment may not be.

Some insurers provide cover of up to £5,000 for home office equipment, but you should check your policy to see if this is included. However, specialist equipment that you may use for work, such as cameras or music studio equipment, will usually require a separate insurance policy.

With social distancing measures meaning unprecedented numbers of people working from home rather than the office, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) released a statement saying that the majority of home insurance policies will not be affected by working from home.

They say that you “do not need to contact your insurer to update your documents or extend your cover”.

However, as lockdown eases and some offices begin to reopen, the ABI say that: “If you are able to return to work, but are choosing to work from home more often, then you may need to inform your insurer that your pattern of work has changed”.  

So, if you are unsure of whether you will be covered, the best way of finding out is to contact your insurer directly to find out.

If you are planning on working from home for the foreseeable future, and have equipment that you will need covered (such as a work computer), a good way to ensure that you are covered by insurance is to take out an “all-risks” policy, which specifically covers business equiment.

An “all-risk” policy usually also covers your items when they are taken outside of your home, and would protect, for example, items in your bag that may be stolen while you are out.

The best way to find the best home insurance deals is to use our home insurance comparison tool.  All you have to do is fill in some details regarding what you would like covered, and you will be able to compare prices, excesses and how much you can get covered from different providers all in one place.

If you require visitors to come to your home for your business, and if they sustain any injuries as a result of doing so, your home contents insurance will not cover any claim made against you and your business.

For this you will need to take out a public liability insurance policy, which will protect you if your business is deemed responsible for causing injury or damaging the property of a client.