Insurance for Home-Office Apartments

Purchasing an Apartment Insurance Policy

There are more than seven million home businesses in the United States today, selling anything from perfume on E-Bay to party supplies for weddings and children’s events. These businesses vary in size and complexity, and usually they exist only as a temporary measure either before they fail, or the business becomes so successful the formal leasing of office space is required.

Under the simplest of circumstances, a home office does not require any additional insurance - if your work uses a single computer that you also use for personal use, a stapler or two and perhaps some other office equipment, you don’t really need to worry much about your losses in the event of a disaster in your apartment like a fire.

As your business grows, however, and grows more valuable, there should come a point when you seriously consider letting your renter’s insurance company know about your budding enterprise in order to make sure your office equipment is protected. Under the wrong circumstances, if there is a loss and you hadn’t notified the insurance company that you have this extra equipment, they may not decide to cover it. Some of the signs that you want to look into this extra protection by notifying the insurance company include:

• The need for more than one computer - If you find yourself purchasing an extra computer or two or pricey computer equipment, you will want to give your insurance company a call to let them know.
• Having an employee who comes to work in your office - This adds liability to your life in case the employee should slip or fall or be otherwise injured while working for you in your home
• Buying specialized equipment like a copier - If you have one of those nice, stand-up copiers in your home and it was damaged, the insurance company would probably ask questions about why you had it in the first place. Once it came out that you used it in the course of a home office business, you may be denied for your claim.
• Keeping or storing valuable items or information in your apartment - If your business is in architecture and you have lots of valuable drawings around, or you’re an artist, and you have plenty of sculptures, or even if you have computer servers and are renting out the space to people, you will want to let your insurance company know in order to get extra protection.

Just a Little Extra Premium Each Month…

When you call your insurance company to let them know more about your enterprising little business and what valuable items (or people) you have in your home and will want protected against loss, their insurance underwriters will likely jump to work trying to figure out exactly what the risks are to them, and how some extra premium from you will help to mitigate that risk for them. Pay it with a smile, write it off as a business expense and go to sleep at night knowing that you are fully covered against loss.