If you work from home, you might think that business insurance is unnecessary, but in today’s society, that is not the case. The fact is, all businesses need certain types of insurance, and the home-based business insurance available today takes everything into consideration so that you are covered without worry. If you’ve ever wondered why you need this type of insurance, below are some things to keep in mind.
- Protection of Equipment
Whether you have a detailing business, a contracting business, or landscaping business, tools and equipment are crucial to your existence. Regardless of the type of home business you’re operating, certain items are required, so if something goes wrong with the equipment or breaks, it’s good to know your insurance policy will cover it. Even if all you do is work on a computer all day, you need that computer to be fully functional at all times, and business insurance will make sure that it is.
And it isn’t just the fear of something going wrong with the equipment that should have you seriously considering business insurance. Anything could happen to your equipment, including theft or harm caused by inclement weather. Whatever happens to the equipment you use daily for your business, the right insurance will ensure you always have it there and can depend on it every day.
- For Liability Purposes
If clients or customers don’t come to your home, this type of insurance isn’t as important. Still, even if this only happens occasionally, you should still consider home-based business insurance. If a customer comes to your house and ends up falling and breaking a bone, your homeowners’ insurance policy won’t cover it. Why? Because the visit was for business purposes and wasn’t personal. If something like this happens—which is more common than you think—and you don’t have the right insurance, you might be paying for all of this out of your own pockets.
All liability issues can arise when you operate a business out of your home, and it could cause you to go out of business if you don’t have the right type and amount of business insurance for home-based business people.
- For Legal Protection
Today’s society is litigious, and people tend to sue other people at the drop of a hat. The bottom line is, that homeowners’ insurance will never cover any claims made for things related to your business. In a home business, just as in all of the others, certain legal requirements must be met. Let’s say your customers’ personal information is in a huge database, and your security is breached. Now what? Without the right business insurance, you’d be in a lot of trouble.
Libel, theft of intellectual property, and so many other possibilities might cause you to go bankrupt if you’re on your own and have no insurance. A good insurance policy costs very little per month and can provide hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coverage. More importantly, it provides you with great peace of mind so that you can relax and know that you are completely covered if the unexpected ever happens.
- It Can Protect Your Income
Some home-based business insurance policies are there to replace your income should something ever happen, and you are temporarily out of work. They usually apply only to situations specifically covered by your policy, resulting in you being out of work for a while. Still, this type of insurance is priceless because, let’s face it; you never know when this might happen to you. Again, insurance is taken out to protect you from the unexpected, and being unable to enjoy a paycheck for a little while is one of the most serious situations you can be in.
- Your Vehicle Needs to Be Protected
Regular automobile insurance policies will likely deny your claim if you use your car for business purposes and get in a wreck. If you make deliveries with your vehicle or go back and forth to various jobs, you have to remember that if something happens to the car as you’re doing these things, a personal policy just won’t cut it. In fact, they likely will refuse to pay your claim once they discover the circumstances, and this is bad news for you.
Most of the time, when people claim to work from home, it doesn’t mean they stay at home all day long, every single day. Instead, they’re meeting with clients, going to jobs, making deliveries, etc. For this, you need a vehicle, and for a vehicle to be appropriately covered by an insurance policy, it has to be a business policy.
