This article was updated on 6th November 2026
Starting a business from home can change how you use your property. Before you welcome customers, store stock or turn a garage into a workshop, check what those changes mean for your buildings and contents insurance.
Using a laptop at the kitchen table is different from welcoming customers, storing stock or making products in a garage. Understanding those differences can help you check whether your existing cover remains suitable.
Insurers may treat desk-based homeworking differently from activities involving customers, stock, employees or production.
Some home policies already allow clerical work, such as administration, computer work and telephone calls, within specified conditions. This can apply to employees working remotely and people working for themselves, depending on the insurer’s wording.
Other activities may need further assessment. For example, a business involving treatments, tuition or manufacturing uses the property differently from someone answering emails at a desk.
Check how your policy defines business use and which activities it permits. If your work falls outside those conditions, or you are unsure, ask your insurer or broker before assuming it is covered.
Your insurer needs to understand what happens at the property. These are some of the details that can influence whether your existing cover remains appropriate.
Regular business visitors can change how your home is used. An insurer may want to know who visits, how often, which rooms they use and whether any employees work at the property.
For example, online tuition with no visitors presents different circumstances from teaching several pupils at home each afternoon.
Accepting those visits under your home policy does not automatically provide liability insurance for your business. Check that separately rather than assuming your household liability cover extends to commercial activities.
Stock, packaging and materials may fall outside the definition of household contents or have separate limits and exclusions.
Tell your insurer what you keep, its value and where it is stored. Include seasonal increases if your stock levels change substantially during the year.
For example, a small online shop may hold considerably more stock before Christmas than it does when the policy renews. Check whether the cover agreed remains sufficient as the business grows.
A computer used for administration may be treated differently from specialist tools, salon equipment or production machinery.
Check which items qualify as business equipment, who owns them, and whether any total or single-item limits apply. Permission to run your business from home does not necessarily mean everything used by the business is insured.
If your employer provides a laptop or other equipment, ask them what insurance arrangements apply. Do not assume it is covered by either your employer’s policy or your own home insurance.
The activities involved can matter as much as the finished product. An insurer may ask about machinery, heat, naked flames, chemicals or flammable materials.
Describe what you actually do rather than relying only on a business name or job title. “Making products at home” could mean anything from assembling greetings cards to using woodworking machinery.
Explain if you use an outbuilding as an office, workshop, treatment room or storage space.
Cover for a domestic outbuilding does not automatically extend to every business use. Its construction, security, contents and the activities carried out there may affect the insurer’s decision and the conditions that apply.
Before starting a home business, check your policy’s business-use provisions and requirements for notifying changes. Contact your insurer or broker where required, or if the wording does not clearly accommodate your plans.
Useful details to have ready include:
Ask them to confirm whether your current policy can accommodate the activity, what is covered and whether any restrictions apply. Keep that confirmation with your policy documents.
It is also sensible to review the position when your business changes. Starting to receive customers, employing someone or moving production into a garage may require another conversation, even if your original activities were accepted.
Not necessarily. Your insurer may already permit your activities, agree to amend your existing policy, or offer cover subject to different terms. Some activities may fall outside what it can accept.
Any effect on price will depend on your circumstances and the insurer’s assessment. Avoid assuming that all homeworking attracts an additional charge or that every home business requires a specialist policy.
If your current insurer cannot accommodate the way you use your property, you may need to consider another provider. Our home insurance with business use page explains the circumstances we may be able to consider.
It could, particularly if the activity falls outside the cover agreed or information given to the insurer was inaccurate.
The outcome depends on the circumstances, including the questions asked, the answers provided, the policy conditions and how the insurer would have treated the correct information. It is not accurate to say that every undeclared business activity automatically invalidates an entire home policy.
Answer questions about your property’s use accurately when buying or renewing cover, and follow any requirements to report changes during the policy.
Also distinguish between an activity being accepted and a particular loss being insured. Your insurer might allow a business at the property while excluding its stock, specialist equipment or commercial liabilities.
Home insurance that accommodates business use protects your home and belongings within the cover agreed. It does not automatically insure every aspect of the business.
For an explanation of where household cover fits alongside protection for commercial risks, read our guide to what insurance you may need when running a business from home.
Before starting or changing your activities, check three things: does your insurer accept the way you use your home, are the items you need covered, and have you addressed any separate business risks?
Running a business from home? Your standard home insurance might not cut it. Discover what coverage you need to protect your home-based business