It has been noticed widely that home based business insurance is overlooked by the homeowners. Usually, the home-based business owners own their houses and believe that their home insurance also covers their home-based business. In the USA, 3 out of 10 homeowners run home-based businesses. According to the survey done by the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA), more than 50% of the home based businesses are underinsured. It is also noticed that 40% of the surveyed home-based business owners assume that their home insurance also covers their business. The home-based business can even void the home-insurance as the home-insurance cover's the home but not the business. If the home is used for some other purpose, say for business, without the knowledge of the insurer, may even invalidate the insurance policy.
If the home based business is shut down due to some damages to owner's house, the home based business insurance covers the lost income. It also covers the ongoing expenses like payroll for up to one year. A limited coverage for the accounts receivable, loss of valuable property, use of equipments and off-site business property is also provided by the home based business insurance policy.
While starting for a business from home, the home owners need to insure the business in order to protect both the home and business. In case of the home-based insurance, the following are covered:
- Inventory
- Business Equipments
- Vehicles
- Workers' Compensation
- Liability
- Fidelity Bond
