Home / Business insurance..?

richimgd

Hi there,

I have a question about insurance...! Please, dont leave...!

Basically I am full time employed as a designer/developer while also being a sole trader offering similar type of services but freelance. The freelance side is very moddest in terms of earnings since it is not full time. I need to get some home contents insurance rather than specialist business insurance if possible.

The main thing is I have a new Macbook so need to make sure that its covered. I bought it for pure business use as I bought it though my business account and out of the profits of the freelance work I have done. Also I occasionally have clients round my place to discuss projects etc - only between 0-2 times per month, so hardly a full time type of business but never the less it is still something I would need to check.

Does anyone know if this type of use could be taken care of with some kind of home insurance policy or would I need to take out additional business cover? I noticed on compare the market there was an option that I ticked which was if clients visit my home for business use - so I guess this might not require a separate business insurance policy... I've been in touch with one insurer - but this is a bit of a minefield so thought I would see if anyone has any experience or recommendations?

Cheers

LoveChild

richimgd wrote: »

Hi there,

I have a question about insurance...! Please, dont leave...!

Basically I am full time employed as a designer/developer while also being a sole trader offering similar type of services but freelance. The freelance side is very moddest in terms of earnings since it is not full time. I need to get some home contents insurance rather than specialist business insurance if possible.

The main thing is I have a new Macbook so need to make sure that its covered. I bought it for pure business use as I bought it though my business account and out of the profits of the freelance work I have done. Also I occasionally have clients round my place to discuss projects etc - only between 0-2 times per month, so hardly a full time type of business but never the less it is still something I would need to check.

Does anyone know if this type of use could be taken care of with some kind of home insurance policy or would I need to take out additional business cover? I noticed on compare the market there was an option that I ticked which was if clients visit my home for business use - so I guess this might not require a separate business insurance policy... I've been in touch with one insurer - but this is a bit of a minefield so thought I would see if anyone has any experience or recommendations?

Cheers

Unlikely a simple home insurance product would cover this business as you say you have clients visting.

I would suggest you discuss this with your current home insurer. If it is at all possible, it would be by an addition for an extra premium, but I suspect you need proper, full business insurance.

Is your home mortgaged? If so you should also discuss this with your mortgage provider as they may have issues with you using your/their property for such business purposes.

There may also be planning implications of using a residential property for such business purposes, so I would recommend you have a chat with your local planning department.

It might simply be easier/cheaper to get some business premises, or at least rent a local office/hotel room by the hour for the meetings you wish to have with clients.

paddyrg

It can be very cheap - Hiscox insure £5k of kit at my location and all my public liability (which you need if clients visiting your home for sure - what if one of them has an accident?) for under a tenner a month. Prices vary HUGELY, so have a bit of a shop around.

Mistral001

It is straight forward really. Ring your present insurer. They might charge extra but it should not be much.

trailingspouse

You absolutely have to have Public Liability insurance if people are coming to your home as part of your business. If, however, you're just running the business from home there shouldn't be any issue with your insurers, as long as you are upfront with them. If you don't have clients visiting often, I would suggest you simply meet with them somewhere else - we use our local hotel lobby, where the surroundings are professional, and we can order coffees, no need to book rooms unless you need a lot of space (to spread out paperwork for example) or the work is confidential. The important thing is to talk to your insurer - they really don't like being kept in the dark about this sort of thing, and who can blame them.

richimgd

Cheers for the replies.

I am not a homeowner - its a private rented property so only needed the contents insurance, and the various business specific cover.

The thing that is confusing me is that on compare the market there is an option about using the property for business use i.e having client visits. It seems that some insurance must have some kind of cover for this unless it is just a type of filter to make sure people dont try and take out home insurance for business use..!?

I saw the hiscox business insurance which would give me public liability insurance as well as cover my studio equipment. Thing is I am not sure if some average home insurance would be able to cover all my studio stuff (mainly the macbook as the highest value item). Perhaps I just need to take out some extra public liability insurance. I hope I dont need extra planning permission for this.. I am already full time employed so my freelance work is only really for an extra 20% income so wont be hiring premises or anything like that because its only part time.

I saw this 'home business insurance' http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/insurance/home-business/
But after doing a quote it seems to be just business insurance and had no home insurance type options - so guess it is just for the business side of home insurance.

Good idea about hotel lobbies for meetings. There was only one project I was working on which was confidential so I really needed the meetings to be private.

paddyrg

Another top tip for meetings - if you travel first class on the train (you can book ahead for good prices) there are sometimes lounges at the stations. Liverpool street's first class lounge is an insult, however Paddington is very respectable and if you ask nicely they will let you meet people in there (or hire a meeting room for 10 from them for £14/hr). Means you can have a meeting space in central London/wherever has a lounge.

Savvy_Sue

richimgd wrote: »

I am not a homeowner - its a private rented property so only needed the contents insurance, and the various business specific cover.

<snip>

I hope I dont need extra planning permission for this.

You do need to have your landlord's permission: there may well be a clause in your tenancy agreement saying that you will not run a business.

If you were with a social landlord then it would be worth asking for permission, which should not be unreasonably refused - they have a blanket clause to prevent car repairs and other anti-social businesses.

However, with a private let that clause may be there because the mortgage lender insists on it.

Actually working from home may be OK, because who can stop you doing what you like in the privacy of your own home? But the client visits would have to stop, IMO.

richimgd

Thanks for your input. I have mentioned the my landlord that I do work from home - but I will need to clarify with them about the client visits situation as you bring up a good point about permission.

CelticStar

We run a small business from home and also had problems getting home and contents insurance because of this. We are now insured through AXA but we had to go through a specialist broker who negotiated wth AXA on our behalf. We do not have customers on the premises though, they drop off items at the door but if we invited them into the house then we would really struggle to get home and contents insurance and would also have to take out public liability insurance. My advice to you would be to start meeting clients in their own homes or away from your premises. If you then just use your home as a 'home office' you can declare this and there are a lot of insurance companies which will insure you for this. The reason we had more difficulty is that we repair electrical items on our premises so we have customers' property in our home and an added fire risk due to the nature of the items. I hope this helps. I remember doing loads of research on this a few years ago, it was a nightmare and I have to say our home and contents insurance is at least £200 a year more expensive than it was before we ran the business from home.