Home-based business is the popular choice for entrepreneurs who want to do business with small investments. According to National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey, there are 2.43 million people (Q4 2011) in UK who run a business from home. These self-employed home-workers are the fastest growing part of UK workforce, whose number rose by 28.16% over the last decade.
Since home-businesses have small capital, they do not involve huge or costly business assets or workforce. However, like any other large or medium sized businesses, home-businesses too are prone to wide range of risks. Regardless of the size, every home-based business needs to get insured to protect the assets and revenues of the business owner. Let us see why and how insuring a home-based business is profitable.
Importance of home-business insurance:
Many business owners assume that they do not require a separate insurance for their home-businesses, as they already have a home insurance policy. But, many renters’ or home owners’ insurance policies do not automatically cover a home-business. Even though your home insurance covers contents in the home, it may not extend to your home-office equipment. Similarly, personal auto insurance policy does not cover vehicles used for business purposes.
This clearly means that your home-business is lacking protection. Thus, in order to secure it from any unexpected losses, it has to be protected by taking sufficient insurance policy.
Benefits of taking home-business insurance:
Now that we know the importance of home-based business insurance, let us look at the benefits one can get by insuring his business.
•Claims of negligence: As most of the home-based businesses include companies that offer professional services, such as consultancy advice, design or financial planning, medical or legal advice, a typical home-based insurance policy definitely includes professional indemnity, which protects business owners from the claims of negligence. May it be a piece of flawed advice or a wrong service, it could result in serious legal claims from the clients. In such scenarios having home-business insurance helps the business owner to meet the expenses incurred in defending himself against the claims.
•Revenues and assets: Business property such as contents, stock, equipment, vehicles, furniture, electronics, etc., is very important for any company. Any loss or damage to them significantly affects the profits of the business. Hence, by taking home-business insurance, which offers cover against all minor and catastrophic losses, you can safeguard your business assets and revenues from all unforeseeable risks.
•Coverage for third party injuries/damages: Another advantage of home-business insurance is the protection it offers against third party injuries/damages because of your business activity. Anything like a bodily injury, property damage or a manufacturing error could result in hefty compensation claims from the injured. Thus, having insurance policy enables you to run your business without the fear of a lawsuit or losing the business in a legal battle. Besides providing compensation costs, the policy also covers legal fees helping you to continue your business without any interruption.
•Medical aid and paid leaves for injured employees: This kind of coverage is optional. If your home-business has workers/employees working for your business, then you can include this cover in your policy, which provides employees with medical care and paid leaves if they are hurt on the job. Thus, this policy relieves you from the burden of taking care of employees’ medical expenses and hospital bills.
With many home-based businesses showing interest to take insurance policy, insurance companies have come up with various policies. But, in order to get a tailor made policy which suits your needs and business requirements, you need to approach a reliable and reputed insurance brokerage firm. These firms suggest you with the best policy that covers all the risks associated with your home-business, thus allowing you to make a worthy purchase.
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