What You Need to Know About Insurance and Business Use of Your Home
Gone are the days of working for the same employer for forty years and retiring with the gold watch. People are looking for more than the traditional 9-to-5 work day with the two-week vacation allotment.
What better way to escape the hum-drum of life than running your own business?
If you’ve taken the leap and are running your own business, then congrats to you! It’s going to be hard work but the sky is your only limit. But if you’re just starting out, you might be running the business from your home.
One thing you’ll want to think about is business use of your home and what that means for your insurance. Here are some things to consider when you’re looking for insurance for your home business:
Your home business needs home insurance plus
When you are running a home-based business, there are a couple of things you have to reflect on. If you happen to run an Avon business and you have a lot of merchandise on hand, your home insurance might not cover everything if your home floods and the product is destroyed.
Alternatively, if you have clients coming to your home for meetings; you might need additional liability added to your home insurance to cover expenses in the event someone gets injured on your property. Contact your insurer and have a conversation with them about your coverage needs related to liability and business use of your home.
You might need a different kind of coverage
Even if you do have general liability and extra protection for business equipment, you might need to get into something more specialized. Every business has very different needs so you’ll need to explore your particular situation with you insurance company.
For instance, if you are a real estate agent working from home, you could leave yourself open to a law suit if you make a mistake on a legal form and ruin a sale. For that, you’ll need professional liability insurance for errors and omissions to protect yourself.
Or if you sell a certain kind of product out of your home, you will need product liability insurance to cover you in the event a problem arises from the use or your item.
Talk to your insurance company
No matter your particular situation, you don’t want to be put into a position where you could lose your business, your savings, and even your home because something went wrong. In that case, you own insurer is a good place to start when you are having a conversation about coverage for the business use of your home.
If they don’t offer the kind of protection you need, they may be able to make referrals to other companies that can give you a good deal.
In conclusion, there’s a lot to running a home-based insurance and it’s best to get as much information as possible before making a decision. Insurance is a big piece of the puzzle so do your research, talk to different providers, and pick a policy that’s right for you.
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