Insurance 101: Working from home - are you still covered?

Working from home

The most common working change over the past 2 years has been the number of people who are now working remotely on a part- or full-time basis. While your current insurance policies might be unaffected, there are still questions you might need to ask of your employer and insurer.

These include:

• Are your employer's devices covered by the company's insurance or are you financially responsible for them and required to insure these yourself?
• If you are going to be using your personal computer or laptop, are you covered for business use?
• Have you bought additional items – such as office equipment, technology, UPS and generators – to increase your efficiency when working from home? Are these items covered in your household contents policy?
• If you are required to keep stock at your home, will this be covered for theft or damage?
• Have you made structural changes or additions to make space for a home office? Has your homeowners' or buildings insurance policy been updated accordingly?
• Does your insurance policy cover loadshedding and power-surge damage protection and is it enough to cover your technology? If not, have you considered taking out a policy to protect yourself and the devices you need for work?
• Are you in need of a cybersecurity policy to protect yourself in the case of a data breach?
• Will you be receiving regular deliveries or client visits? Have you discussed with your insurer whether this will increase your risk profile?
• Do you have third-party liability coverage stipulated in your insurance policy? Will it still pay out if the person injured was on your premises for a work-related reason?

Home business and rentals

The pandemic has also seen an increase in the number of people renting out additional space in their homes, setting up side-hustles, starting new businesses and relocating established businesses to their residential property to save on rental costs. In these scenarios, it is particularly important to speak to your insurer as running a business from home could invalidate your personal insurance policies entirely.

• If you already have business insurance, have you notified your insurer of the change of address?
• If you have started renting out areas of your residential property, have you informed your insurer to establish whether there is a change in your risk profile?
• If you are now running a business from home, have you spoken to your insurer about how this impacts your homeowner, contents and third-party liability insurance policies?
• If you need to take out business insurance, how will the mix of policies work if you need to make a claim?
• Have you informed your insurer of any structural renovations or additions for the business? Has your homeowners' or buildings insurance policy been updated accordingly?
• How will business stock and equipment be covered in the case of a theft or damage claim?
• If you will be using some of your personal equipment for business needs, have you informed your insurer and established that they will still be covered?
• Have you notified your insurer of any additional furniture, equipment and technology that you have acquired?
• Does your insurance policy cover loadshedding and power-surge damage protection and is it enough to cover your business equipment? If not, have you considered taking out a policy to protect yourself and the equipment and devices you need for your business?
• Are you in need of a cybersecurity policy to protect yourself and your business in the case of a data breach?
• Will you be receiving regular deliveries or client visits? Have you discussed with your insurer whether this will increase your risk profile for your household contents policy?
• Do you have third-party liability coverage stipulated in your insurance policy? Will it still pay out if the person injured was on your premises for a work-related reason?

Vehicle insurance

While working or running a business from home might result in an increase in your homeowner or household contents policy payments, the reduction in travelling could see you getting savings on your vehicle insurance.

• Have you informed your insurer that as you are now working from home, you will be travelling much less?
• Have you asked your insurer whether the change in your risk profile will result in lower premiums?
• If you are going to be using your personal vehicle for business purposes, like collections and deliveries, client meetings and site visits, have you informed your insurer of the change?

It may be tempting to keep your insurer in the dark about the change in your circumstances, particularly if you're worried about higher premium costs. However, failure to disclose these changes could very well result in future claims being repudiated.