Home offices provide workers with a lot of freedom and flexibility. Just remember to wear pants during your zoom calls, and you’re all set.
Having a home office, without a doubt, saves you money. No office rent, travel costs or need to buy insurance – Right? Whilst the first two are correct; the latter isn’t. Many home office workers assume that they don’t need public liability insurance. Unfortunately, this is not always true.
The common misconception is that home and contents liability covers owners and their business. Most reputable home and contents insurers liability clauses are directly linked to you “owning or living within your home”. However, home business operations are not mentioned, so the assumption should be it’s not covered. Even if a ‘home office’ is mentioned, should you leave your home office for any purpose to do with the business, i.e. banking, meetings, trade shows or visiting suppliers, then the liability insurance will generally not cover you.
Furthermore, if you sell ‘things’ online but buy the inventory, you are the ‘manufacturer’ in the eyes of the law. Being the manufacturer requires you to have Products Liability. Home and contents policies do not cover Product Liabilities. We appreciate costs being a factor when purchasing insurance. With Public Liability starting from a few hundred dollars, it is worth exploring options and understanding the consequences of not being covered.
Before dismissing Public Liability Insurance, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do customers or suppliers visit my home office?
- Will I be visiting clients /suppliers /trade fares as part of my business?
- Does my business sell goods?
- Does my business involve travelling to client locations to carry out their purchased service?
If the answer is yes to any of the above, then it’s time to chat with Colne Advisory Public Liability Insurance experts.
