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Homeowners
Insurance: Your Home Office May Hurt You!
A Homeowners Insurance Policy
used to be a fairly simple, straightforward insurance product, and it
took care of a fairly simple, straightforward need on the part
of the consumer. Coverage for the structure in case of fire, coverage for
belongings in case of theft, and liability protection in the event the dog
nipped the
paperboy.
Times have changed! A house is not just a home, anymore.
For some, the home may no longer represent the quiet oasis we escape to
at the end of a tough work day. In fact, our home may very well be our
most demanding
work environment, replete with the whir of fax machines, the ring of
phones, and the clatter of fingers racing over keyboards.
"
Cottage industries” in the home, including the simple pursuits enjoyed
by Tupperware demonstrators, seamstresses and artisans, have mushroomed in
today’s entrepreneurial environs, and the home business exposure
has broadened to encompass in-home professional offices, e-commerce consultants,
medical billing services, interior designers, and canine husbandry.
It would come as a terrible surprise, after a fire loss, to learn that
your home computer, which just happens to store some of your office
records, is
not fully covered, nor are the books comprising your medical library
or your file cabinets, because they were part of your home office – a
business use of premises.
A similar shock may occur when you learn that
your policy will not protect you from the injury suit that arises
when a long-time patient
in need
of a refill trips over your home office threshold.
As a physician,
it is very likely you have a home office/business exposure. The basic Homeowners
policy limits coverage for “business property” to
$2500 on premises, which might not come close to the cost of re-creating
your patient database after a lightning bolt, or replacing diagnostic equipment
you brought home for safe-keeping, or covering the phone, fax,
or e-mail system
you have installed in your basement. Even more restrictive, for
off-premises business property – such as the laptop you transport
from home to hospital – there
is only $250 in coverage.
As the needs of homeowners have changed,
though, so too has the policy, and there are solutions to the business
exclusions built
in to your
policy. The
HO0442 Permitted Incidental Occupancy is generally available
for most office situations, and allows your policy to respond to on-premises “business
use” losses or liability suits.
Even better are the variety of Home Business Endorsements that
are offered by many of the insurance companies. In addition to
expanding
the coverage
for the items in your home which may, even occasionally, be used
in conjunction with your work, the endorsements will add some
vital enhancements.
Coverage
for Valuable Papers, Accounts Receivable, Special Computer Coverage,
Continuation
of Home Business Income, and Protection for Extra Expenses After
a Loss are some of the possibilities.
If your Homeowners insurer is not able to accommodate your home
office needs, it may be necessary to purchase a separate Business
Owners
Policy for your
home office.
We at PIAM are pleased to offer you a Homeowners
Insurance product with an excellent company whose specialty is
Homeowners Insurance.
Their Home
Business
endorsement provides a variety of features and enhancements to
protect the in-home office exposure, and we suspect just about
any physician
in practice
can benefit by looking into this protection. Call on us to learn
more about insurance designed for you – the Massachusetts
physician.
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