Coverage When You’re Working From Home

Jul 6, 2021, 3:57 PM

Your business might not need employees in the office, but it will need these coverages.

If you work in an office, you may just be starting to head back in to work these days, after more than a year working from home. If you operate a business with office staff, this may be the beginning of a new arrangement with them: hybrid work, with a few days in the office and a few at home.

It can save on costs in the workplace and might even improve morale — there are probably few people who would complain if their daily commute was about 30 seconds long.

Starting a hybrid work plan involves more than just agreeing to let people set up their computer in their basement.

They need a good internet connection, and probably their work computers, so they can stay in touch.
They need space and time in their homes (it’s summer now, the perfect time to figure out how to get the kids to and from school every day when fall rolls around).
Here’s one Hastings Mutual can help with: Your business needs insurance coverage that aligns with your work-from-home plan. What does that include?

Work from home isn’t an insurance coverage itself, but there are several kinds of policies and endorsements that can support your business.

Cyber Liability

Your business probably uses computers every day already, which means they are at risk if there’s a hacker or thief. Cyber liability coverage helps your company recover from a loss, including damaged data, lost business, and a public relations campaign to reassure your customers that you’re fixing the flaw and aren’t putting their valuable information in jeopardy.

General Liability

This helps cover you from claims made related to your business — for example, an injury to a customer inside your store or damage to a building rented to you. It’s to help you if someone gets hurt and goes after you as a result.

Workers’ Compensation

If you have staff, they need to have insurance coverage in case something goes wrong on the job. This can still apply even when an employee is working from home full time, since the coverage applies when a person is hurt at work. Don’t forget about our FirstCall Work Injury Hotline. It’s where you call when you need a medical specialist for a work-related injury, and it’s part of your Workers’ Compensation coverage.

Deluxe Property

Even if all of your employees aren’t in the building, you probably still have a lot of resources there, like rented property and signs attached to the outside of your building (say, with your company name on them). Deluxe Property insurance covers the things you might not have a chance to think about, because you’re too busy trying to keep your company running after adjusting to a new way of working.

Are you working from home full time these days, or are you returning to the office? Does your company have a new policy on remote work?

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