Do you have business insurance in place for this?

Many folk believe that seeing their business is run from their home, if there are any problems then their home policy will cover them.  They couldn’t be more wrong.

A home and contents insurer is just that, a home and contents insurer.  Therefore you need to notify them if you are running any sort of business from home.  Even if you are renting, you should notify your landlord and they should be letting their Insurer know.

You see not all Insurers are able to cover your home and contents if you have a business operating from within the home.  The repercussions can be, if you do not notify your Insurer of the business and you have a claim, the Insurer can decline the claim, regardless of it’s cause; by the business or not.  If their standard conditions are that they cannot offer cover for home and contents if a business is operating from the premises, they can decline all claim as they should not be on risk.  They would not have offered cover.  This is the importance of your duty to disclose, you must notify all information relevant to your personal circumstances.

As a broker we have access to several Insurers who have no problem with covering your home and content when you are operating your business from the premises.  We also have a number that will extend the policy to include cover for your business too.

So please be mindful to:

-  Notify your Insurer that you are operating your business from home

-  Get their confirmation that they are okay with this and will not detriment your policy coverage in any way

-  Take out business insurance for liability, your contents and stock if required, professional indemnity if you are providing advice / design work for a fee

-  And last but not least, not specifically insurance related but, ensure you apply to your local council for a home business approval (depending on your business there are different requirements and application processes).

If you don’t have insurance in place yet for your side hustle, or at home business, feel free to give us a call.  We have helped many in this space..