Will home and contents insurance cover a home office?

If your home doubles as an office, much of your office equipment is covered under GIO Home and Contents Insurance. It varies by equipment category and there are a few exceptions, so make sure you get to know your particular policy. If you’re not sure about your specific home office setup, get in touch.

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What’s covered

Home office equipment

Items of a clerical nature kept in the home for business or personal use – like your computer, monitors, headset, keyboard, printer and more – are covered. This includes your home office furniture, too. Our Classic Cover allows you to claim up to $10,000 to repair or replace these items following an insured event. It’s up to $20,000 if you have Platinum Cover. These limits are fixed, so you don’t need to worry about specifying individual items or their values.

Tools of trade

This refers to tools or equipment used for any business activity, apart from the home office equipment mentioned above. This may be especially useful if you’re a tradie who stores building tools at home, or a graphic designer with a drawing tablet on your desk. Unspecified items in this category can be claimed for up to $5000 with our Platinum Cover (the limits are $1,000 or $2,000 with Classic and Classic Extras cover, respectively). To find out if your tools are covered under your policy, feel free to contact us.

Office accessories

By this, we mean rugs, home décor and collectables that bring your office space to life. This isn’t an official home and contents category, but we’ve included it here as many home offices feature these sorts of items.

Items with flexible limits

You can ask us to increase the claim limits on the following types of items. If you possess these items and you don’t specify them on your policy, they’re still covered up to the limits outlined in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

Hand woven rugs and carpets

The limit for unspecified carpets and rugs under our Classic Extras Cover is $5000 per rug, per insured event.

Collections, sets and memorabilia

If you have pins, medals or collectors’ items displayed in your home office, or a stamp collection in a drawer somewhere – rest assured, they’re covered too. Under Classic Extras Cover, unspecified items in this category are covered for up to $5000 in total.

Paintings, art and ornaments

Under our Classic Extras Cover, unspecified art and paintings hanging in your home office (or any other part of your house) have a limit of $20,000 per item, or up to $80,000 for a set. If you want to specify a higher limit for any of the above items, let us know.

We know that home offices vary, just like homes themselves. That’s why we offer three levels of cover, so you can choose the right one to fit your lifestyle. Our Home and Contents Insurance covers your home and valuables against fire (including bushfire), flood, storm, theft and more. It features $20 million of legal liability cover, and depending on your level of cover, temporary accommodation if you can’t stay in your home after an insured event. Sign up online and get 10% off today.

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What isn’t covered

Stock or samples

This refers to product stock or samples stored in your home for business purposes. You’ll need Business Insurance for this. GIO’s Small Business Insurance covers stock loss and various other uncertainties that come with running a business.

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Customer injuries (in your home)

If you see clients or customers from home, you should consider GIO’s Public Liability Insurance. Designed with small businesses in mind, this product insures your business against claims of injury or damage by members of the public, including customers, clients and delivery people.

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Read more:

• What to consider when running a business from home
• Public Liability vs Professional Indemnity Insurance

General Insurance

Insurance issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as GIO. Consider the Product Disclosure Statement before buying this insurance. This advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situations or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it.