Is Your Home Based Business Covered?
It's one of those things that home-based business owners often
never think about. Many home-based business owners assume that
their home insurance policy also covers their business
activities. The fact is the standard home insurance policy does
not cover most home businesses. In addition to this, your home
based business activities can void all coverage provided under
your home insurance policy.
Home insurance policies provide coverage for residences, not
places of business. Using your home for an activity that your
insurance company is not aware of can potentially leave you with
no coverage at all.
The type of home-based business insurance you will need really
depends on the type of business you have.
For example:
* A graphic artist can easily have $20,000.00 in computer
equipment and software in their home.
* People who sell products often take inventory and samples with
them when visiting clients, along with cell phones and laptops.
* A customer could slip and fall during an appointment at a home
based bookkeeping business.
* If you use your vehicle for business, then you'll need to make
sure your auto policy covers your vehicle while being used for
business purposes.
* A home-based manufacturer could be held liable if the
manufactured product causes injury to a consumer.
* If your business provides a service, you may need professional
liability insurance to protect your personal assets, pay defense
costs and ensure that your customers are adequately taken care
of should they suffer damages as a result of your services.
* If you provide services away from your home, at your
customer's premises, you may need completed operations coverage
to protect yourself from liability that could occur after you've
left the premises and your customer begins to use whatever you
were working on and injury or damage occurs.
Not all home based businesses are the same, and neither are
their insurance needs.
Take a good look at your business and determine exactly what
your insurance needs are. Decide a value on the inventory,
equipment, and business contents in your home. How many
customers come to your home? How would your business be affected
if a disaster forced you out of your home?
Then talk to your insurance agent or broker about your business
and get some good advice on what types of coverages you should
consider for your business. Ask about home based business
insurance packages. If you belong to a business organization or
association see if they offer an insurance plan or get group
discounts on insurance.
Try to get more than one quote so you can compare coverages and
costs. Once your research is done, make a decision and purchase
some business insurance. You're in business and you want to stay
that way, so make sure you protect your assets and your
customers.