Ever since many companies switched to having their employees work at home due to the pandemic, there are many questions regarding the changes or any changes to specific things. In this case, we will be going over how insurance works for people working from home. Does working from home get covered by insurance?
Working from home does get covered by insurance, but some things are to note regarding some of the risks regarding health-related mishaps and property loss. In addition, you should check with your employer regarding worker compensation and health insurance.
There are various factors that we will go over regarding working from home and how you are covered. If you would like to learn more on this topic, we encourage you to keep reading.
What Are the Risks When You Work From Home?
Working from home brings different risks as you are on your property working for a company (unless you are the employer). Additionally, various employers will function differently from another, and you may find it harder to be compensated for unfortunate circumstances such as:
- Properly Loss. If you succumb to property losses, it is a good idea to have home insurance. Additionally, if your work requires people to physically visit your home, having public liability insurance becomes essential.
- Health-related (sickness or injured).Claiming to be sick or injured when working from home may not work out as well as it does with an on-site job. Employers may expect you to continue working from home since you are not going anywhere. Additionally, it can be extremely hard to prove the cause of injury when working from home.
- Liability. When working from home, your employer might require that your office space complies with their safety requirements. Additionally, if you are using their equipment, they will typically want you to have homeowner’s insurance coverage if there are damages.
What Is Covered Under Your Employer’s Insurance?
It’s important to check with your employer regarding what they do and don’t cover. But in general, they will usually have these two types of coverage in place:
Worker Compensation
This is one of the major things to look for with an employer. Worker compensation will provide lost wages while sick or injured, medical expenses, and rehabilitation costs. You are at risk of being financially harmed without worker’s compensation, and so when working from home, it is just as important as it is with on-site workers.
Health Insurance
Like with workers’ compensation, health insurance is another important factor when working from home (and working in general). Health insurance will cover a portion or all of your medical bills, sparing you from having to get an individual plan or paying all of your medical expenses out of pocket.
There are instances where individual health insurance is better, however. Such as being able to choose which provider and plan work best for you. Employer health insurance is incredibly convenient but not always the best for everyone’s needs.
Does My Home Insurance Cover Work From Home?
Standard home insurance doesn’t usually have enough coverage for employees working from home. For example, a standard package might not include coverage for damages of employer-owned equipment.
