If you work from home, either as an employee or in your own business you need to make sure your equipment is covered. Over a million people are currently working from home more than one day a week, a figure which is set to rise a quarter of the working population by 2020.
Many home insurance policies don’t cover business items, but Aviva is now offering cover for business equipment as standard as part of their home contents insurance policies. Aviva (previously Norwich Union) is providing cover for loss or damage to office furniture and equipment that is used for business or professional purposes including filing cabinets, desks, computers, printers, typewriters, photocopiers, answer and fax machines – up to a limit of £5,000. This means that if any of the above is stolen or damaged by any of the “standard perils” like fire, flood, escaping water or storm, customers will be covered. It also provides cover for any accidental damage.
Julie Fromant, home lifestyle manager at Aviva UK, said: “The work landscape is constantly changing and a quarter of the population is expected to work from home at least once a week by 2020. Mums and dads choosing to work flexi hours, the growing number of freelancers and higher levels of redundancy all mean that home working has become a real alternative to the corporate office.

The cover is available to all new customers and existing customers when they renew their policy.

Aviva’s top tips for home-workers:

1. If your home office space is a separate room, make sure you have a door lock and keep it locked when not in use. Keeping your office as a separate, out of bounds space to children and pets will help to prevent unwanted accidents, keeping both your equipment and the people involved safe.
2. Keep office equipment covered up or out of reach of pets and children when not in use – most importantly for their own safety but also to minimise risk of damage to the equipment
3. Certain office supplies and equipment, like shredders for example, present a great safety risk to children and pets. Look out for products available in the market that are designed for safety
4. Keep valuable items out of sight from opportunist thieves
5. Mark items with indelible identification – showing your postcode and the number of your house or flat – using an ultra-violet marking pen
6. Take pictures and write down the serial numbers of valuable items such as your computer and scanning/printing equipment, to help the police identify them should be recovered after a burglary.
7. Ask your local police station for “postcoded property” stickers to display in the front and back windows of your house