How To Protect Your Business If You Work From Home

Working from home is usually the dream of many, and the pandemic has made a dream come true. Albeit, this dream comes with its peculiar challenges and considerations. Businesses closed the doors to their physical offices to stay protected; they had to operate from home to stay profitable and keep their head above waters.

While you may have shielded yourself and employees by operating from home, your business is susceptible to numerous risks. By working from home, you still face the same risks you would have been exposed to while working from your business office or location.

Let’s establish a fact before we move ahead, most homeowners’ insurance nor renters’ insurance covers you if you operate from home.  If you don’t know if your policy provides the coverage, ask your insurance professional.

Extra Insurance Covers Needed to Work From Home

Since you are working from home, we want to be sure you have the right cover. However, the coverage you’ll need will be a factor of the nature of your business. Here’s what you should start with;

1. Professional Liability

This coverage protects you from risk in the event of your customers or clients suing you based on the service or advice you provided. You are at the risk of being sued if the advice makes them lose money or time.

Professional liability insurance ensures you are covered in the event of alleged error, neglect or omission. Professional liability coverage is suitable for accountants, auditors, lawyers, doctors, web designers, and other service professionals that provide professional advice including event planners.

2. General Liability

This coverage is not so different from your standard home insurance policies. However, the additional coverage is for your visitors. If your customers or prospective clients visit you while working from home and get injured, you are covered from the risk. 

This is also applicable if you damage anything that belongs to your client during their visit to your home office or while you are performing your business work on or offsite.

3. Workers Compensation

This is when you have an employee, intern, or volunteer who get injured while working for you, whether they are in your home or working from their own homes.

Final Thoughts

This piece assessed how your business could stay healthy and risk-free during the pandemic. We want you to focus your energy and attention on having a productive working space and profitable business.

However, this scenario becomes different if you have clients visiting you at home. In this case, your home insurance policy becomes inadequate. At Tillman Insurance Advisors, we recommend that you always involve a trusted insurance advisor before taking a major business decision such as working from home.

To assess your needs for a work from home insurance coverage, you need to know the following;

• Do you receive visitors or clients in your home?
• Do you store goods at home, and what are they?
• Is your home merely for clerical duties?
• Lastly, do you utilize specialist tools and equipment at home?