As a tradesperson you know that your tools are a vital part of running your business day to day, and there are often pieces there that you have carefully chosen and use regularly. Most people know it is frustrating when we can’t find a particular favourite tool – but losing many or all of your tools is more than an annoyance, it may also have an impact on whether you can work effectively and so have a financial impact on your business.
It is often tempting to believe that a home insurance policy will also cover tools but the question is whether this can be relied on for an effective business?
Most household policies will provide an element of cover for ‘work from home’ as standard and aim to cover clerical or admin work. It will however cover some office furniture as well as items such as computers and related equipment which is good news but most policies aren’t really suitable for a business that is being wholly run from the home as it will not automatically cover business visitors and any stock.
Further items such as trade tools are not covered as most insurers require that a Commercial Insurance policy be set up to cover these. Another complication is that insurers also struggle to determine tools that are used for business against those that you might use around the home for DIY tasks etc so tend to implement a policy limit for such items.
What are you supposed to do to get the appropriate cover? Our suggestion would be to speak to an insurance broker and combine your existing policies that cover your Public and Employers liability into a package policy. This will allow cover to be added as an extension for tools and avoid running the risk of your home insurance not providing the cover you need.
The trick is to maintain a good relationship with your Insurance Broker so that you can get the best advice for your business.
Call us today on 01233 840505 and let us take the hassle out of insurance.
You can email the author, using julie@cascadeins.co.uk
