These days, we all enjoy the odd treat of working from home.
Sure, it’s not ideal to not be able to shout across to your colleagues in the office.
But the internet is usually more reliable, you have the comfort of your own home as surroundings, and you’ve got food and drink on tap.
It’s easier and easier – so no wonder more of us are working flexibly.
Especially with a hectic work-life balance, childcare issues, difficult commutes and more.
But it’s not all fun and games – forget to tell the right people and there could be huge consequences, according to our sister title WalesOnlin e.
Why? Well, here’s why:
Whether you rent or own a leasehold or freehold property, spending any time working from home could see you in breach of your terms and conditions.
There are three main reasons for this:
And that’s before you get into the fact that invalidating your insurance can also invalidate your mortgage, or any restrictions placed on your tenancy agreements.
Oh, and if your landlord hasn’t been informed that you’ll be working from home, and so had the opportunity to update the insurer, then they too could end up invalidating their home insurance and with it risk breaching their mortgage deal.
It might sound like a small thing – and you might believe you’ll get away with it – but if there is a problem and it emerges you’ve been working from home the consequences can be extreme.
No insurance payout and potentially being evicted or having your mortgage called in to boot in the worst case scenario.
The good news is that it’s an easy fix. Generally a phone call or two is all that’s needed.
Noel Summerfield, head of household insurance at the Wales-based Admiral , argues that many people who work from home will be doing clerical work that won’t affect the cost of their cover, “it’s always best to check to avoid any doubt and minimise the risk of invalidating your policy”.
“If you start using your home for work, even if it’s part-way through your policy term you must inform your insurer,” he added.
“Waiting until the end of your policy or renewal date could mean your insurance is invalid, and in the event anything goes wrong it could end up being costly.”
Telling your mortgage lender is generally equally painless – if you’re not using more than one room of your house to work in, there generally isn’t an issue.
In terms of covenants on the deeds of the property, this is something that will be on the title deeds to your home and you can check with the Land Registry if you can’t find them – but won’t typically come up unless your neighbours specifically complain about it and take a court order out to stop you running a business from home.
If you do work from home it can change what you need your policy to cover.
For example, if you are carrying out regular office work from home on behalf of your employer, this could be classed as using your home for ‘clerical business use’.
Your insurer needs to be informed that you’re using your home in this way – if you don’t, and need to make a claim, any payout could be reduced or denied entirely.
If you keep stock for a business at your house – almost half (46%) of Admiral’s customers who work from home do so – then your insurer may see this as presenting an increased risk of fire or theft, which could result in a higher premium.
In fact, depending on the materials included in the stock, you may need to arrange a specific insurance policy rather than adapting your existing policy.
Government’s running a business from home page here .
Source: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/worrying-way-working-home-could-14913957
