More and more Canadians are working from home these days. But not many virtual business owners know that their home insurance doesn’t cover a number of their business-related risks. To ensure you have the protection you need against cyber threats, equipment theft, or on-site accidents, you need home-based commercial insurance. Here we’ll go into further detail about how you can protect yourself when you run a virtual business from home.
Liability
If you have employees, delivery personnel, or clients coming into your home for business purposes, you need coverage in case an accident happens. You may think that your home insurance would cover this, but very few policies do. This could leave you paying out of pocket for any medical bills and loss of wages if someone hurts themselves on your property.
Theft
A burglary could interrupt your business operations and even put your business under if you don’t have coverage for all your office equipment and belongings. A home-based insurance plan will cover all your expensive office equipment, inventory on and off-site, and help to get your business back up as soon as possible.
Cyber Threats
Would you know what to do if a hacker locked up all your files or delete them? Believe it or not, this is more common than you think. Many virtual businesses and small operations don’t spend the money on cybersecurity or software. But it’s a big risk if you don’t protect yourself. According to UPS Capital, 60% of small businesses go out of business within the first six months of an attack and can expect an attack to cost between $84,000 and $148,000. If you have a lot to lose, it’s important to secure your data properly and purchase insurance to protect you from any financial losses you may experience from cyber threats.
Errors & Omissions
When you’re a freelancer, consultant, or working for a high-profile agency or government institution, you should have errors and omissions insurance to protect you if you make a mistake that negatively affects a client. If you provide professional services to businesses as well as individuals, you should have errors and omissions insurance, too.
Valuable Stock
Your home insurance is not designed to provide you with coverage for the stock you keep on site. There is usually a limit to what your home insurance will cover, so it’s important to have additional insurance when your business sells or ships products from home.
There are a lot of different types of businesses that you can run from home. Each has its own particular risks that need to be considered when deciding on the right insurance policy. At MLS Insurance, we’ll help you find the best policy for your virtual business needs. Our trained insurance professionals will find or customize a policy that protects your business so that you don’t lose any money if an incident occurs.