Does home insurance cover working from home?
If you work from home for an employer, your home insurance policy will generally continue to cover your property and contents. This may include using a laptop, making phone calls, or doing other office-based tasks.
However, if you run a business from your property, or are self-employed, your home is also being used for business purposes. This can create risks that standard home insurance may not cover.
Typically included:
Home office equipment such as computers, monitors, and printers, up to a certain limit, usually around 4,000.
- Standard buildings and contents cover while you are working from home as an employee.
Typically excluded:
- Business activities carried out from your home.
- Equipment belonging to your employer, such as a work laptop.
- Loss, damage, or theft of equipment that occurs while working outside the home.
Accidental damage to equipment, such as spilling a hot drink on your laptop, unless you have accidental damage cover.
Key insight: Your home office equipment may be covered up to an overall limit, but most contents policies apply a single-item limit for individual claims. If an item is worth more than this limit, you may need to specify it separately on your policy to ensure it’s fully covered.
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Extra cover you might need
Your employer’s insurance generally covers the equipment and risks tied to your job. However, business owners and self-employed people will need to arrange additional cover to protect their business activities.
Contents insurance doesn’t typically cover office equipment outside your home. If you regularly work from cafes or coworking spaces, then an all-risks extension can provide cover for accidental damage, loss, and theft anywhere outside of the home.
Business equipment cover can pay to repair or replace physical assets essential to your business following loss, theft, or damage. This can include laptops, smartphones, and cameras, as well as other business-specific equipment such as hairdressing tools or exercise equipment.
Public liability insurance covers your business against claims for injury or property damage caused to a third party. This is important if your business involves customers or members of the public visiting your home regularly.
Professional indemnity insurance is designed for businesses that provide advice or professional services. It can cover legal costs and claims if a client alleges that negligence, errors, or inaccurate advice has caused them a financial loss.
Employers’ liability insurance is not a legal requirement in Ireland (unlike the UK), but if you have employees, even on a part-time or occasional basis, you still owe them a duty of care under health and safety law. This cover protects employers against claims and other associated costs if an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of their work for you.
Don’t forget your car insurance: If your business involves driving to visit clients, travelling between work locations, or making deliveries, this may fall outside of a standard car insurance policy and any claims made could be refused. Most Irish insurers will let you add business use to your existing policy through company car insurance, so that your personal car stays fully covered.
Do you need to tell your insurer you work from home?
No, you generally don’t have to tell your insurance provider if you are an employee working from home, unless directly asked. By law, you are only required to answer the specific questions your insurer asks about your house and how it’s used, but you should answer these questions honestly, as inaccurate information can affect future claims or even void your policy.
Insurers will typically ask whether your home is used for business purposes and whether you:
- Are self-employed
- Run a commercial business from the home
- Have clients, customers, or members of the public regularly visiting the property
- Store business inventory or commercial stock in the home
- Run a service-based business from home, such as beauty treatments or private classes
- Manufacture products within your home
Are you renting? Most tenancy agreements restrict property use to residential purposes only, so running a business from a rented home usually requires your landlord’s written consent.
Additionally, if your business increases your landlord’s insurance premium, you may be responsible for covering the increase.
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Does home insurance cover a garden office or outbuilding?
Standard buildings and contents insurance usually provides cover for domestic outbuildings, including garden offices, depending on how the space is being used.
However, this cover is designed for personal use rather than commercial or business activities. If you’ve built or converted an outbuilding specifically for business use, you’ll need to inform your insurer, as this may not be covered under your home insurance policy.
Tips to make sure you’re properly covered
- 1
Keep an inventory of your work equipment: Record valuable items, including their make, model and purchase date. Be sure to keep receipts, as proof of purchase or ownership is necessary in the event of a claim.
- 2
Know your policy limits: Make sure the value of your buildings, contents, and office equipment is not above your policy limits, to avoid being left underinsured.
- 3
Check who insures your work equipment: If your employer provides a laptop or other technology, check whether it is covered by their insurance or if it needs to be included under your own policy.
- 4
Check garden office cover: If you work from a garden office, converted garage, or other outbuilding, make sure it has the correct planning permission and your insurer knows if it is used for commercial purposes.
- 5
Review your other policies: Operating a business from home can affect your other policies, including motor insurance if you use your car for business purposes. You might need additional cover if this applies.
Frequently asked questions
If you’re an employee doing ordinary office work, nothing should happen. But if you’re asked whether your home is used for business and you answer inaccurately, the consequences will depend on intent: an honest mistake won’t affect a valid claim, a careless answer can lead to your claim being reduced or the policy altered to reflect the true risk, and a deliberate misrepresentation entitles the insurer to void the policy entirely and refuse all claims.
If you are an employee carrying out ordinary office duties from home, working remotely should not affect your premium. However, if you run a business from home, your premium may reflect the increased risk your insurer is taking on. For example, having clients visit your property increases the risk of accidents or third-party injury claims, and having high-value tech, specialised tools, or inventory can increase the value of your contents. These factors affect your premium more than the fact you’re working from the home itself.
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