Home insurance with business use

swagman

My wife does 6 hours of private tuition in the home each week and for many insurers this is a no-no.
We have a policy with Coventry Homecare which covers this for no extra premium but this year's renewal is quite high.

Has anyone in this situation found an insurer who will do it? For example AXA allows up to 10 business 'visitors' a week, but AXA has a poor reputation for claims handling (Which magazine).

Another alternative is to have a specialist business use policy as well as the normal home policy, but these are £50 or £60 on top of what you pay for the home policy.

Any ideas?

mattymoo

Where have you looked so far? If you are just going via the internet and phone then most firms will not be interested because their phone / web products have a narrow selection criteria.

If you speak to a decent insurance broker (I don't mean the bucket shop type) then they should be able to find a suitable "broker only" product from a reputable insurer.

It might also be worth trying NFU. I know this is a terrible stereotype but NFU customer base is largely rural and it is quite common to run sidelines from the house such as fresh eggs, logs, flower stalls. As I say, terrible stereotyping (and I live in the country as well) but I suspect NFU will have encountered tutors before.

dacouch

I agree with Matty, try a good local broker, their are policies designed for people who work from home from companies such as Allianz, Fortis and Norwich Union etc. They are a combination of Home Insurance and Business Insurance.

You don't mention what type of tutoring you offer eg education or music, the other option is to try any of your trade organisations. You will not be the only tutor with the same problem and they probably have a scheme with an Insurer designed for tutors

swagman

Thanks for these replies. I have tried NFU and was impressed by the attitude of the person I spoke to (plus there is a local office nearby). I notice too that they came out top with 92% customer satisfaction in settling claims in the Which survey published August 2008. ( Axa Tesco Barclays Halifax, Norwich Union came out with claims satisfaction in the 47% - 57% range).

However, NFU was expensive. But I will try brokers. Cheers