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Home insurance and working from home

We know that many people will now be working from home and are therefore concerned about what this means for their home insurance. RSA have answered the most common questions they've received on home insurance in relation to working from home.

If you took out your home insurance policy before 8 February 2018

I am working from home, how does this affect my cover?

You do not need to tell us if you are carrying out clerical work from home, such as using a laptop or phone.

Please contact us if:

  • You have visitors to your home on business matters, for example, if you have face to face meeting with clients or co-workers
  • Your business makes or sells goods from your home or you store any of these items at your home
  • You’re offering services from your home, for example, providing beauty treatments, hairdressing, child minding, dog grooming, private tutoring or being an exercise instructor etc.
  • You have established, or are planning to establish, a business from home, or have moved the running of your business to your home premises.

I’m working from home, is my work equipment covered?

If you're using business equipment owned by your employer, for example a laptop, it’s their responsibility to insure it, so you don’t need to add it to your policy.

Their equipment is not covered under our Home Insurance policy unless you're responsible for any damage to the equipment under the terms of your employment.

If the business equipment is owned by you, it will be covered under your contents insurance. Please check your Policy Schedule and Policy Wording for more details and limits.

Will my home be covered if I must leave it unoccupied in the following circumstances?

  • Staying with friends, family or carers
  • Being unable to travel home from abroad
  • Being in hospital

Our policy usually allows for your home to be unoccupied for up to 60 days. Please see policy wording for details or call us if you have any questions.

If you're planning to leave your property unoccupied, here are some tips to help protect it:

  • ask a friend or neighbour to keep an eye it;
  • ensure your windows and doors are locked (and remove keys) and set your alarm;
  • switch off and unplug electrical items;
  • turn off the gas at the mains, unless it’s required for an automatically controlled heating system;
  • turn off the water at the mains and drain the system unless an automatically controlled heating system requiring the water supply is left in operation.

My friend is coming to stay with me, am I covered?

If the home is occupied by anyone other than you or your family, you should contact us to let us know.

I am worried about being able to pay for my insurance, what can I do?

Depending on your situation and what you need from your insurance, there may be ways we can help you manage your payments to make sure you don’t end up uninsured.

To talk to us about the options that might be available to you, you can view our phone numbers and opening hours by visiting our Contact Us page. Please don’t cancel your payments without speaking to us first as we may be able to help.

If you'd like some free, independent advice

There are several independent organisations that offer tools and resources to support you if you are in financial difficulty. For example, National Debtline and StepChange both provide free and impartial advice for people living in England, Wales or Scotland. Also, Money Helper, part of the government’s Money & Pensions Service, has online budget planners, affordability calculators and information on support available. This includes the Breathing Space scheme, which gives a 60-day period where debt cannot be pursued. This scheme can be used once in a 12-month period.

Can I ask someone I know to help me manage my insurance policy?

If you’d rather someone you trust speaks to us on your behalf, we’ll be happy to chat to them. Just make sure your trusted person is with you and simply give us a call. We’ll take you through the usual security questions – you’ll then be able to hand the phone over to your trusted person to talk to us. They can even be added to your policy as your regular trusted person if you ask us to. That way, they’ll have permission to talk to us on your behalf in future. We can set this up at any time for you.

If you need specialist help for a loved one, please see below a list of organisations that can offer further support:



I would like to add a high value item onto my Home Contents policy, can I do this online?

Please email us at priority.mailbox@uk.rsagroup.com to add high value items to your policy.

I would like to request a duplicate set of documents, can I do this online?

Please email us at priority.mailbox@uk.rsagroup.com

I need to submit a home insurance claim, how do I do this?

You can submit a home insurance claim by calling 0345 072 7145.

I need to talk to you about something else, how do I get in touch?

Please call us on 0345 300 0519 if your policy needs to be renewed within the next 5 days. Please note our lines are open Monday – Friday, 9.00am – 5.00pm.

For all other queries, please email us at priority.mailbox@uk.rsagroup.com and we’ll do our very best to get back to you within 5 days.





If you took out your home insurance policy after 8 February 2018

I am working from home, how does this affect my cover?

You do not need to tell us if you are carrying out clerical work from home, such as using a laptop or phone.

Please contact us if:

  • You have visitors to your home on business matters, for example, if you have face to face meeting with clients or co-workers
  • Your business makes or sells goods from your home or you store any of these items at your home
  • You’re offering services from your home, for example, providing beauty treatments, hairdressing, child minding, dog grooming, private tutoring or being an exercise instructor etc.
  • You have established, or are planning to establish, a business from home, or have moved the running of your business to your home premises.

I'm working from home, is my work equipment covered?

If you're using business equipment owned by your employer, for example a laptop, it’s their responsibility to insure it, so you don’t need to add it to your policy.

Their equipment is not covered under our Home Insurance policy unless you're responsible for any damage to the equipment under the terms of your employment.

If the business equipment is owned by you, it will be covered under your contents insurance. Please check your Policy Schedule and Policy Wording for more details and limits.

Will my home be covered if I must leave it unoccupied in the following circumstances?

  • Staying with friends, family or carers
  • Being unable to travel home from abroad
  • Being in hospital

Our policy usually allows for your home to be unoccupied for up to 60 days. Please see policy wording for details or call us if you have any questions.

If you are planning to leave your property unoccupied, here are some tips to help protect it:

  • ask a friend or neighbour to keep an eye on it;
  • ensure your windows and doors are locked (and remove keys) and set your alarm;
  • switch off and unplug electrical items;
  • turn off the gas at the mains, unless it’s required for an automatically controlled heating system;
  • turn off the water at the mains and drain the system unless an automatically controlled heating system requiring the water supply is left in operation.

My friend is coming to stay with me, am I covered?

If the home is occupied by anyone other than you or your family, you should contact us to let us know.

I am worried about being able to pay for my insurance, what can I do?

Depending on your situation and what you need from your insurance, there may be ways we can help you manage your payments to make sure you don’t end up uninsured.

To talk to us about the options that might be available to you, you can view our phone numbers and opening hours by visiting our Contact Us page. Please don’t cancel your payments without speaking to us first as we may be able to help.

If you’d like some free, independent advice

There are several independent organisations that offer tools and resources to support you if you are in financial difficulty. For example, National Debtline and StepChange both provide free and impartial advice for people living in England, Wales or Scotland. Also, Money Helper, part of the government’s Money & Pensions Service, has online budget planners, affordability calculators and information on support available. This includes the Breathing Space scheme, which gives a 60-day period where debt cannot be pursued. This scheme can be used once in a 12-month period.

Can I ask someone I know to help me manage my insurance policy?

If you’d rather someone you trust speaks to us on your behalf, we’ll be happy to chat to them. Just make sure your trusted person is with you and simply give us a call. We’ll take you through the usual security questions – you’ll then be able to hand the phone over to your trusted person to talk to us. They can even be added to your policy as your regular trusted person if you ask us to. That way, they’ll have permission to talk to us on your behalf in future. We can set this up at any time for you.

If you need specialist help for a loved one, please see below a list of organisations that can offer further support:



I would like to add a high value item onto my Home Contents policy, can I do this online?

Please email us at westbromhomeinsurance@hoodgroup.co.uk to add high value items to your policy.

I would like to request a duplicate set of documents, can I do this online?

Please email us at westbromhomeinsurance@hoodgroup.co.uk

I need to submit a home insurance claim, how do I do this?

You can submit a home insurance claim by calling 0345 072 7145.

I need to talk to you about something else, how do I get in touch?

Please call us on 0345 305 2551 if your policy needs to be renewed within the next 5 days. Please note our lines are open Monday – Friday, 9.00am – 5.00pm.

For all other queries, please email us at westbromhomeinsurance@hoodgroup.co.uk and we’ll do our very best to get back to you within 5 days.

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