Remote work blended home and workplace – but insurance still thinks in borders: the home policy protects the household, the commercial policy the premises. Between the two sits the home office.
- Home insurance covers household contents – work-activity equipment is limited or excluded in many products.
- COMPANY-owned devices belong on the company's property policy – if it extends beyond the premises.
- The gap can be closed from two sides: a business rider on the home policy and/or off-premises cover on the company policy.
Where the gap is
The typical situation: the employer's laptop, monitor and phone at the employee's home – and at a burglary it turns out the home policy pays nothing or little for "non-household" contents, while the commercial policy by default covers the premises. In the BYOD model the same appears in reverse. The gap is real, but closable from two directions – you just have to know it exists.
Step one is an inventory: how much company equipment sits in homes – at company scale the number tends to surprise.
The two closing directions
On the employee side several home products offer a work-activity rider: named cover for equipment used for work at home (own and entrusted third-party items). On the company side the solution is extending the property policy off-premises (typically national or EU scope) – giving theft, breakage and perils cover for portable equipment, subject to security rules (such as in-car storage conditions).
For companies the second route is the systemic one: one extension over the whole device park, without per-employee administration.
The liability thread
Home office liability runs both ways: damage the employee causes while working at home (soaking the rented flat while drying company papers – life is creative), and the employer's liability for the employee's at-home work accident. The latter is employer's liability territory (detailed on felelosseg.biz) – the remote-work policy and safety briefing are the company's protective gear here.
We tailor the insurance side of the practical package to the company: a device extension and a one-page summary of the insurance essentials. The remote-work policy itself and the health-and-safety briefing are best finalised with an employment lawyer or an occupational-safety professional – that way the insurance side of home office doesn't stay a grey zone either.
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