Nowadays there is a growing trend of people working from home. Home offices have considerably increased in number in the past decade. This rise is due to the fact that most people now work over the internet, and hence working at home is more productive and financially feasible than renting an office space and working from there.
However, according to surveys about 70% of people working from home offices do not have separate insurance and rely on their homeowner’s insurance. Among many people there is a misconception that their homeowner’s insurance will also cover any losses of their office equipment due to disaster. The truth is that homeowner’s policies have a limit to the amount that will be covered for office equipment present in the home. In most cases this amount is way less than the actual value of office equipment in a home office.
Home office insurance should be purchased separately. A number of insurance companies now provide services for insurance coverage of home offices. I’ll highlight a few of these below:
Homeowner’s Endorsement:
This method adds home office coverage as an endorsement to the original home office insurance plan. This endorsement increases the coverage of your basic homeowner's insurance to office equipment and business records. Your insurance company or insurance agent can provide you detailed endorsement packages that will be available with your homeowner’s insurance.
Business Insurance Policies:
The second option that you can go for is a separate business insurance policy. These packages are designed specifically for business and private offices and covers all you equipment, records and assets.
Business Owners Policy:
These policies were developed to cater for small businesses run through small home or commercial offices. Owner policies provide comprehensive coverage for both liability and property in a single package. The main advantage of this policy is in the liability part. If your home business involves frequent visits and interaction with people, you should consider this package. The liability coverage serves as a great support in times of trouble.
Hybrid Insurance Policies:
Home offices have become very popular in the US. An increasing number of people tend to work from home as it gives them more freedom and more control. Hybrid policies are designed by insurance companies especially for people who work from home. These offer superb coverage of household property and office property in one package. Most policies also have liability coverage.
In many instances the companies combine this with other insurance as well, such as auto insurance.
Where to Begin:
Before you start searching for suitable insurance, you need to have thorough idea of the value of the items you have in your home and your home office. Make an inventory list which you can use to help insurance agents estimate quotes.
The choice of the package solely depends on your needs. It is common for people to under-estimate the insurance they need to cover their home-office because of their home insurance. It’s recommended that you do not focus on getting lower premiums, but instead select a package that greater security.
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