The rise in working from home has forged an opportunity for brokers to contact their clients to ensure they are properly insured, says Ceta Insurance.
The firm says that home working over the pandemic increased from 27% in 2019 to 37% in 2020, with 57% of workers saying they prefer to stay working in this capacity full- or part-time.
This means that some home insurance policies may not provide adequate cover, and especially in the case of house conversions made specifically for working in.
Ceta commercial director James O’Hara points out that most workers should be fine, but if a client has visitors to their home for business matters, “[they] make, sell or store goods from home, offer services from [their] home i.e. beauty treatments, hairdressing, child minding, or have started running a business from home during the pandemic,” then this change in circumstance must be declared.
And the 7% of home workers who have converted their garage, summer house or shed, and the 3% of workers who have built a dedicated office in their garden will also need to declare this.
O’Hara continues: “While it is great news that most home working will be covered by a standard home insurance policy, there is a danger that because most circumstances are covered, those whose aren’t will just assume they don’t need to worry, and this could leave millions of homes at risk.
“There is, therefore, a huge opportunity for brokers to get in touch with their clients to check on their home working situations.
“If they discover that their client has created a new office space, that they are now offering services from their home or having clients or customers to visit, they can then really show their value by helping them find competitive cover for their new, home working circumstances and keep closer to their clients for any upcoming moves or re-mortgaging.”