Insurance Coverage You Need for Your Home-based Business
Are you starting a home-based business? Being your own boss and working from home sure sounds appealing, but have you considered how you will insure your home-based business?
Generally, a home insurance policy offers a small coverage for things such as tools and instruments required for a business, profession or occupation. There may be limitations in your policy in terms of the equipment used by your business.
What is the greatest risk with a home-based business?
Imagine if a client falls while walking up to your home-based business or a client sues you due to problems with your product or service. A general liability policy is a good idea for any home-based business that involves having clients on the premise. Should a client suffer an injury on your property, your homeowners’ insurance will not cover it. You need to invest in a general liability policy to cover your home-based business, and to avoid losing it should a lawsuit be presented.
Do you visit clients occasionally as part of your home-based business? Do you take any equipment with you?
Most homeowners’ policies do not cover business property off of the home premises. Your laptop will not be covered should you take it outside of the home, for example. You will need a business property policy for your home-based business in order to provide coverage to all the equipment and valuables that pertain to your business.
It is important to think about the risks of your home-based business when considering an insurance policy.
You can start by answering questions such as:
What can go wrong if you run your business from home?
How can you prevent harm from happening?
How will you respond to a potential harm or loss?
If something happens, how will you pay for it?
If you are a real estate agent running your business from your home, you may consider errors & omissions insurance. As a real estate agent working from home, you could face a lawsuit if you make an error on a legal document. Error & omissions insurance will protect you from the aftermath of such a mistake.
Professional liability insurance policies will cover other types of errors you might make in the trajectory of your business. If you are a hairdresser running your business from your home and make a mistake that results in a disgruntled client, you could face a potential lawsuit.
I can work with you to determine what kind of coverage you need to protect your home-based business. As your local Mississauga insurance broker, I will be with you from the start and continue to be available to you as your business grows and evolves.