What is home business insurance?
Business insurance for home businesses is suited for self-employed people and small business owners. Whether you’re a self-employed IT consultant, interior designer or recent start up business, it is important that you have the correct cover to protect you.
You might assume home insurance covers you while working from home, but this usually isn’t the case. Most home insurance policies have restrictions on what you can do from your home and they certainly won’t cover you for the products you produce or sell, or the professional service that you provide.
When arranging a home-based business insurance policy, you may want to consider covering computers, tools, and other business equipment you keep at home.
As a small business owner, we know you’re always looking to protect your assets. Business insurance for home-based companies goes beyond contents insurance, to look after your livelihood with insurance to protect you from unexpected claims. With most policies, you can choose to add Professional Indemnity cover to your policy – which can act as a lifeline for your business if a client claims there are errors or omissions with your work such as incorrect advice – as well as cyber insurance to protect data.
Do I need insurance for my home business?
More businesses than ever encourage remote working, and many start-ups are home-based – it’s little wonder as there are plenty of benefits to working from home. You get the freedom to operate on your own terms, with minimal overheads.
If you run your business from home, and employ anyone as part of that business, you’ll need Employers’ Liability as part of your policy. Employers’ Liability Insurance is legally required even if everyone works from home.
There are also the risks any business can face. If you might struggle to foot the bill for legal fees or client compensation pay-outs, a customer might claim they were injured at your home during a treatment, or a burglary could cause missed trade if your equipment is lost. Home Wi-Fi networks also pose a risk as they can have fewer security measures than business networks, leaving your company vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Disagreements with clients
Since even the smallest of companies can face legal action, business insurance could be an important factor – working from home won’t make your business immune. Whether you run a home-based management consultancy or marketing agency, customers can claim your services didn’t fulfil the contract. There are times when things don’t go as planned– and if your client suffers financial or reputational damage because of it, they could take you to court. Including Professional Indemnity as part of your policy protects your home business by covering the cost of legal defence and any compensation due to your client as a result of incorrect advice, designs or a negligent professional service.
Injuries on your premises
Home working brings risk, so tailoring your policy to what you do can be beneficial. A professional in sports massage will open their door to members of the public, as will a counsellor – if someone is injured on your premises, they could take legal action. Ensuring you have cover with Public Liability Insurance in place makes sure you’re protected if a customer, courier or passer-by claims they were hurt or fell ill because of your workplace. It takes legal fees and compensation costs out of your hands.
Data falls into the wrong hands
A cyber attack could see sensitive data being held to ransom. Include Cyber Insurance as part of your business insurance policy to protect you against data breaches. Working from home still carries a number of risks but with an insurance policy you can protect what is most important to you, your home, your business and your reputation.
If you require an insurance quotation for your home business call or email Clarke Williams Insurance Brokers for a no obligation review.
