Do you need working from home insurance?

If you were employed in a corporate office before the pandemic, your ways of working will have been transformed since.

Home working was a huge and necessary change in 2020 and became the norm for many until 2022, when employees were encouraged to team up again and hybrid working really started to catch on.

So, if reporting for duty from home is still very much part of your working week, what insurance do you need?

Is working from home covered by home insurance?

This depends on what type of work you do. If you’re only doing office work like using a computer, taking phone calls and having video meetings in your home, you may already be covered on your home insurance.

Check whether your contents policy includes cover for home office equipment and, if so, what level of cover you have. At Saga, for example, business equipment is protected up to £5,000 on our standard cover and £10,000 on our higher level of cover.

If the home office insurance you already have on your policy is enough, you don’t need to declare working from home to your insurer.

Bear in mind that any equipment issued by your employer for you to do your job at home, such as company laptops, phones and monitors, should be covered by their own insurance policies.

Is working in a garden office covered by my home insurance too?

It certainly can be, but the question is whether it comes under your buildings or contents policy or both. At Saga, for example, how an outbuilding is covered depends on whether it’s a fixed structure or not.

Buildings insurance usually includes protection for fixed structures in your garden. So, if your office is a permanent secure structure, covered under your buildings policy, the contents inside will be insured in the same way as the contents and business equipment inside your home.

There may, however, be a limit on the amount you can claim for theft from an outbuilding office especially if it isn’t kept locked securely.

If, on the other hand, your garden office could be dismantled and moved elsewhere, like a shed or summerhouse, it may come under your contents insurance, more specifically your garden contents.

Not all standard contents policies cover garden contents, or the level included might not be high enough to protect the outbuilding itself as well as what’s inside it. And it’s unlikely you’d be insured against leaving valuable items, such as laptops, in this type of outdoor structure.

Let your insurer know if you’re working in a garden office space and, between you, you can make sure you’ve got everything covered.

If I run my own business from home, am I covered?

The type of insurance you need for business from home depends on the type of company you run.

If your work is purely of a clerical nature and you don’t have any stock at home or any suppliers or customers visiting, you won’t need any more protection than your normal buildings and contents cover – providing your business equipment is adequately insured as part of that policy.

For insurance purposes, this situation is the same as working from home or hybrid working.

However, you should tell your insurance provider and make sure you’ve got all the cover you need if:

• you have stock at home or you create products for sale
• you have valuable equipment that you use for your business
• you have employees, customers or clients coming to your home
• you’re doing non-office work from home, such as making things in a workshop which you then sell online.

If your business involves having other people in your home, you may need one of the following types of cover too:

• public liability insurance – in case someone comes to harm on your premises and takes legal action against you
• employer’s liability insurance – if you employ people who also work at your home
• professional indemnity insurance – to safeguard your business if your professional services lead to some sort of loss for a client.

Business liability insurance isn’t something that Saga can offer.

Does working from home affect my buildings insurance?

Not if you’re doing office, desk-based work at home. You don’t even need to inform your buildings insurance company if this is the case.

However, if you employ staff who work at your home with you or your job requires specialist equipment, the storage of goods or stock, visitors or any adaptation to your home, you should tell your insurer and make sure you have the right cover.

What contents insurance do I need when working from home?

When was the last time you worked out how much contents insurance you need? This is certainly something worth recalculating if you haven’t done so since you started working from home.

Contents insurance typically covers loss and damage up to the sum insured against certain specified events, including fire, storm, flood, theft, escape of water and malicious damage.

Accidental damage cover is worth considering if you’re spending most of your time at home. It’s usually available as an extra at additional cost but some policies, like Saga Plus home insurance, include it as standard. Got a dog or cat at home? Saga Plus covers you for pet damage too.

Find out how else Saga can protect your home.