Public liability when you run a business from home

What this means for the business

Think through a normal month’s work. The useful details are often found in the jobs that differ from the usual routine.

Do not assume that a larger limit also means wider cover. The figure and the scope answer different questions.

The points most likely to change the insurance answer include: a client slips on the path to your treatment room; a courier is injured while making a business delivery; and products or equipment cause damage away from home. A familiar accident can still fall outside a policy. Use these examples to check what has actually been quoted.

A few minutes with your diary, invoices and contracts should help you confirm: how often business visitors attend; what part of the home is used and for what; and any stock, tools, treatments or manufacturing. Keep a copy of the completed answers with the documents that follow.

Read the schedule and endorsements when they arrive. They may contain restrictions that do not appear on the certificate. Keep written answers with the quotation so they can be found later.

Examples worth considering

A quotation should take account of points such as these:

• A client slips on the path to your treatment room
• A courier is injured while making a business delivery
• Products or equipment cause damage away from home

They are examples rather than promises of cover. The insurer will still examine what happened and what the policy says.

Put “a client slips on the path to your treatment room” into the setting where it could really happen. Who would be nearby, whose property might be affected and what part of the work could lead to the incident?

Now compare it with “a courier is injured while making a business delivery”. A product, employee, vehicle or piece of advice may bring a different type of cover into the discussion.

Recent invoices and diary entries are a sensible check. They may remind you of occasional jobs that a broad trade label misses.

Information the provider may need

Have the following information ready before you begin:

• How often business visitors attend
• What part of the home is used and for what
• Any stock, tools, treatments or manufacturing

“how often business visitors attend”, “what part of the home is used and for what” and “any stock, tools, treatments or manufacturing” help turn a broad occupation label into a useful account of the business. Check them before starting the form and explain anything that does not fit a simple menu choice.

Afterwards, compare the answer with the wording about home insurance may restrict business use. It should not point in a different direction from the information you supplied.

Two reminders from this page are “home insurance may restrict business use” and “public liability does not insure the building itself”; keep them beside the documents when you check the quotation. If the policy takes a different approach to “how often business visitors attend”, ask about it before the cover is needed and retain any written reply.

Look for mistakes as soon as the documents arrive, especially in the business name and activity description.

Parts of the policy worth finding

• Home insurance may restrict business use
• Public liability does not insure the building itself
• Planning, lease and mortgage conditions are separate

An endorsement can change the standard wording. Check every endorsement listed on the schedule.

Keep these notes with the policy

Put the proposed start date beside the first job that needs cover. There should be no unexplained gap.

Then look at the least typical job you expect to accept. If it falls outside the description, deal with that before taking it on.

Store the documents somewhere another responsible person in the business could find them. That is useful if an incident happens while you are away or unable to deal with it yourself.

There is also a page-specific detail to carry forward: planning, lease and mortgage conditions are separate; check how this affects the jobs you accept and ask for clarification if the policy takes a different approach.