Home business insurance with public liability required for therapist working at home

dozy doctor

Hi.... My wife is looking to set up a home business as a therapist and is trying to get insurance, but because of clients visiting the home, (maximum 5 per day) then it becomes a public liability issue...

She CAN get insurance for operating as a therapist in the home or elsewhere, and will be fully covered for providing treatments, but can NOT get an insurance company to cover the house, content and public liability of the property If she opens her business here.

Our current​ insurer 123.ie wont cover us, nor will aviva or FBD..

Has anyone else experienced this problem of setting up a home business am looking to see if anyone has managed to get insurance, and whom they have gotten it with...

Would also look at insurance companies from the UK and Europe if at all possible..

Any help would be appreciated...

biko

From motor insurance forum.

Paulw

Moved from Accommodation & Property.

phormium

Try Pike Insurance Brokers, I have business insurance through them for a home business and they know which insurers will insure the house too in those circumstances. I have my house insurance through them but can't remember which actual company it is with.

Mrs OBumble

Would you need to have planning before you can get insurance? I suspect so ....

phormium

I have had insurance with several different companies over the years and have never been asked about planning.

Sue Pa Key Pa

phormium wrote: »

I have had insurance with several different companies over the years and have never been asked about planning.

If a house is not compliant with planning permission, it can affect claim settlements. However, this usually occurs with structural issues, rather than usage. In other words, if you build an extension without planning permission, it is unlikely you will get paid if it burns down

phormium

That makes perfect sense but I'm presuming the op has not built an extension for the therapist customers and is operating from an existing room in the premises and there has not been any major change to the fabric of the house to facilitate this. These are the sort of questions I have been asked by insurance company, not whether or not I had planning. But I imagine if I had built extra or did some major conversion then I would have required planning to do that even without an insurance issue.

dozy doctor

phormium wrote:

Try Pike Insurance Brokers, I have business insurance through them for a home business and they know which insurers will insure the house too in those circumstances. I have my house insurance through them but can't remember which actual company it is with.

Many thanks for that... Will try then on monday and see if they can help at all... It really is a grey area, and I suspect that the majority of people who are working from home, be it a small home office also need home business insurance to operate from their home...

And if course it is highly unlikely, But if a PC they use for work went on fire and burnt the house down, and the insurance company found out there was a business at.the address, by means of a website or whatever, then they would be sure not to pay out...

Mrs OBumble wrote:

Would you need to have planning before you can get insurance? I suspect so ....

No..

phormium wrote:

That makes perfect sense but I'm presuming the op has not built an extension for the therapist customers and is operating from an existing room in the premises and there has not been any major change to the fabric of the house to facilitate this.

Yes no structural changes made to them home, just purely cosmetic changes in the existing room on the building

Belkin1975

Hi, did you ever get sorted for insurance?