Working from Home Insurance

Cunardian

With many people being made by their employer to work from home using their office equipment such as Laptop, Monitors, Docking Station and connecting power cables etc, are they covered by their own house insurance or is it an employers responsibility?  What if it’s stolen, damaged or worse catches fire and the property burns down?
Also should the individual notify their mortgage provider they are now working from home?

davidmcn

Cunardian said:

What if it’s stolen, damaged or worse catches fire and the property burns down?

Your home insurance doesn't cover property owned by other people - so your employer wanted to cover loss of their equipment they'd need to cover it under their insurance. Doubt it makes a difference from a fire point of view, unless your work equipment is peculiarly flammable.

Cunardian said:

Also should the individual notify their mortgage provider they are now working from home?

I doubt lenders will be interested if all that has changed is you're sitting at your computer doing work stuff instead of doing personal stuff, it's all ancillary to domestic use. Different if your work involves storing stock, having more visitors calling etc to a degree which would require planning permission.

jonesMUFCforever

Mortgage provider - No -
 Home insurance definitely - they might charge you an additional premium which I would expect your employer to reimburse you. 
Your employer should insure their own goods such as laptops etc - they should also tell you what would happen in a case of fire etc.

passau91

My Home Insurance (Post Office) has issued FAQ which states: "I'm now working from home due to COVID-19 - Do I need to let my home and contents insurer know? You don't need to contact us about this if you're a clerical/office worker who's now based at home, your insurance cover will not be affected during this period.  If your work involves holding trade stock at home, or you have your customers visiting you, or you have a Landlord's Contents policy, then please contact us via Webchat to discuss this as we may need to update your cover..."
It goes on to say that equipment supplied by the employer is not covered.  That's set my mind at rest as I'm a clerical worker with no employer-provided equipment.