Are Your Telecommuters Properly Insured?

More and more employees are heading home to work.
If you've decided to reap the benefits of the telecommuting trend, you need to also make sure you're covered from an insurance standpoint.
While it is possible that your existing coverage is sufficient, it's more than likely you'll need to make some changes to be adequately protected.
Consider these issues: - Workers' compensation.
An employee who sustains an injury while working or during working hours, even though they are in their home, is protected by workers' comp.
Develop a system that clearly defines when the employee is considered to be "at work" and when he's not so that your liability is clear.
- General liability.
This coverage primarily deals with the issue of people on the premises.
Will your telecommuters meet with customers or other business associates in their homes? If so, add their residences as additional locations to your business liability policy so that you're covered if someone other than the employee is injured while conducting business on the employee's property.
Remember that the employee's homeowners insurance may not cover this.
- Equipment.
If you have equipment (computers, printers, telephones, etc.
) or other business property in the employee's home, you need to make sure it is listed on your business property policy, or that you are willing to accept the risk if it is not insured.
You should also have a clear understanding with the employee of what you will and won't be responsible for.
For example, you may want to hold the telecommuting employee responsible for damage to equipment that resulted from negligence (such as if a child pours juice on a computer keyboard) but not for events beyond their control (such as a lightning strike, fire, flood, or theft).
- Customer property.
If your employees ever take property belonging to customers to their homes, be sure your insurance agent knows and has provided for that coverage in your policy for while the property is in transit and is at the employee's home.
In most telecommuting situations, making sure the employee is properly covered will either not affect your premiums at all, or at worst mean only a small increase.
But failing to have the proper coverage in place could be very expensive both in direct costs and lost productivity should a loss occur.
Beyond the actual insurance coverage, you may want to institute policies to protect both your employees and your property in telecommuting situations.
Your insurance agent or carrier may be able to assist you with developing and communicating these policies.