If you’re one of the millions of people working from home these days (like us), you may be wondering if you have the right insurance in place should something happen. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, nearly 43% of US workers worked from home with some regularity, according to Gallup. Working from home has become common practice in many industries, but what happens if you encounter damage or loss while working from home?
The good news is that you or your company likely do have insurance coverage that can help protect your work tools.
Does your insurance cover working from home?
The best way to determine if you have insurance coverage for working from home is to give your insurance agent a call to discuss the specifics of your policy and ask your employer what they cover. A cup of coffee and the kids running around could mean a spill that damages your work laptop – but who is responsible for replacing or repairing it?
If you are a telecommuting employee, you probably have coverage through your employer. This can include workers comp, business property and business liability. But if you own your own business and are working from home, you should check with your insurance agent to see if your commercial insurance will cover you in your home.
Is your company laptop covered?
If you use a company-bought laptop, it is likely covered by your employer’s insurance. You may want to check with your employer to see if their policy covers business equipment away from the office. Same goes for any extras you may have brought home with you, like company-owned monitors or keyboards.
If you are using your personal laptop for work, it may be covered by your homeowners insurance, but you’ll want to check with your agent to make sure your policy covers items used for conducting business. You don’t want to run into any surprise exclusions!
Is your home desk setup covered?
If you’ve created a comfortable, dedicated work from home setup with similar bells and whistles to the ones you’re used to from the office, but those items were not provided by your company, it’s on you to replace them. Your employer’s business insurance will only cover the items they’ve provided you. If you purchased your desk, monitors, keyboard, etc. on your own, then you’d need to rely on your own insurance to replace them should something happen.
Since you’ll be using those items to work, it can’t hurt to check with your insurance agent to make sure your homeowners policy will cover them and that they aren’t excluded due to their work-focused purpose.
If you carry homeowners insurance, you may find your deductible is higher than any of those items (and maybe all of them together), so it likely doesn’t make sense to file a claim. If you have renters insurance where your deductible is lower, it may mean a claim could be worthwhile if you can’t afford to replace the items out of pocket.
Compare home or renters insurance quotes with one of our expert insurance advisors at (844) 824-2887 today.
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