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Home Insurance

If you are an office-based worker and will continue to work from home, it will remain the case that you don’t need to contact your insurer unless any of the following applies:

  • You have visitors to your home on business matters, for example, if you have a face to face client meeting.
  • Your business makes or sells goods from your home or you store any of these items at your home, particularly if valuable or includes hazardous or flammable material (such as gas cylinders or fireworks)
  • You’re offering any other services from your home. For example, this would apply to jobs such as providing beauty treatments, hairdressing, child minding, dog grooming or being an exercise instructor.
  • You’ve adapted your property (i.e. using an outbuilding as your home office or undertaking any major renovation works) or acquired new business equipment that belongs to you.Cover for any business equipment (i.e. laptop) will usually be the employer’s responsibility but check with your employer if unsure.

Anyone who has established, or is planning to establish, a business from home during the pandemic, or has moved the running of their business to their home premises, should discuss the cover required with their insurer or broker.

It is important to make sure that your policy documentation is accurate, and your policy cover remains right for you. If you are not sure, you should contact your insurer or broker to check.

For more information you can read our commonly asked questions here:

My property has suffered damage (from a fire, flood or other named peril) and it’s uninhabitable. I am self-isolating, so will my insurer help me find alternative accommodation?

Insurers’ priority is the safety of their customers and the wider community. Insurers will continue to provide cover for customers as promised in the policy - including funding the cost of alternative accommodation - whilst acting in accordance with the UK Government’s advice at that time.

It is vitally important that you contact your insurer to discuss your claim further, as each one will be managed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that customer interests are best protected.

Do I need to continue to make regular visits to my unoccupied home?

Changes to government advice means you should be able to travel to your second or unoccupied home to undertake necessary checks. Restrictions will differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and you should check you are adhering to the law and guidance of the relevant administration.

If you are unable to visit your unoccupied home, due to government advice, insurers have waived the requirement for individuals to check on a property regularly, as long as the property is suitably secure.

A friend or relative is staying with me during the lockdown period. Will this affect my home insurance?

Insurers will take a pragmatic approach to additional visitors that may be staying with you during the lockdown period, as specified by Government. Insurers understand that some individuals may require additional care and help during these unprecedented times and will not require you to contact them to advise that you have additional long-stay guests. This advice is subject to change depending on the length of time that Government require the current social distancing requirements.

Remember it may be that some claims for theft will only be accepted if there is evidence of a break-in, so make sure you fully trust the person you’re allowing to stay in your home for free. Keep your home protected by showing your house guest how to ensure the property is secure, where the stopcock is, and any other information that they may need to know.

I have a guest staying with me during Coronavirus lockdown, will their possessions be covered while they stay with me?

If your guest has their own home insurance policy, this may cover their possessions away from home while they are temporarily staying with you. There may be a limit to the cover provided, so they should check their policy wording. If your home insurance policy includes ‘Visitor cover’ this will often cover your guests' possessions, up to a limit, while they are staying with you.

Will home insurance cover the cost of a deep clean to my property should it become contaminated by COVID-19?

Most standard home insurance policies do not provide cover for the costs of cleaning a property.