Property and Contents Insurance for Contractors -
Freelance Insurance Essentials

Property and Contents Insurance for Contractors

The requirement for property and contents insurance for contractors will be determined by your choice of business premises and your typical pattern and location of work.

For example, if you have a home office you need to check that your domestic buildings and contents policies cover you for business use and business equipment respectively.

If you have office facilities in a commercial property, either rented or owned, you will need specific insurance that is suitable for those premises.

In addition it is very likely that you will spend a significant proportion of your time working in client premises and you should check that your property and contents insurance provides cover for your business equipment and assets when in these locations.

It is likely that as an independent consultant the assets and equipment that you use will be quite straightforward. Typical items would include:

• Laptop or Desktop computer
• Wireless routing equipment
• Software
• Briefcase
• Quality suitcase or other luggage for travel purposes
• Quality pens / pencils
• Office equipment including desk, chair, filing and storage equipment, lighting
• Printer
• Server or Mass Storage Device for file backup
• Cables (power and data)
• Telephone
• Fax machine
• Mobile phone or PDA

The items listed above are unlikely to be all lost in one incident although this is possible if there is a fire or other major disaster. The cost of replacement will depend on the quality and sophistication of the equipment and other items but it is not unreasonable to assume a total replacement cost in the region of £10,000.

However, it is also possible that essentials for a specialist professional discipline might include technical equipment for measuring or monitoring and sophisticated software which may be bespoke or off-the-shelf. Either way, the cost of replacement for such items could be substantial and in the order of £20 - £30k or more.

In common with domestic property and contents insurance policies, it is important to establish whether in the event of a claim the compensation will be based on the depreciated current value of property or whether the claim will be settled on a ‘New for Old’ basis.