As soon as you exercise your professional activity at your home, you must take care to insure your computer equipment. - IStock / City Presse

Housing and professional activity are, in principle, always separate, at least from a legal perspective. Everyone has their own lease and specific operating procedures.

That said, the Web is softening these boundaries. Many freelancers, but also employees in teleworking - very numerous at present because of confinement - indeed carry out their missions from their home. What raise certain insurance issues.

In telework, who covers professional equipment?

Remember that a teleworker is an employee like the others who benefits from the same rights and protections as his colleagues working on company premises. Therefore, even if he performs his tasks at home, it is up to his employer to cover his professional equipment.

In practice, the company must take out multi-risk IT insurance in order to cover any damage caused to the goods made available to the employee during his teleworking. This essential protection will make it possible to compensate the company in the event of theft of the computer at your home, of fire causing the loss of your equipment or against the risk of computer hacking.

What is the protection if I use my personal computer?

In the absence of sufficient organization, employees in telework may be forced to use their own computer equipment. This is also often the case for freelancers , web consultants and freelancers who work independently from home with a simple computer and an internet connection.

In all these cases, take care: if you use your personal property, the computer insurance of the employer will not play. Whether you are a teleworker or self-employed, it is better to inform your multi-risk home insurer to be sure that your equipment is properly protected by your guarantees, especially if it is brand new. The latter will tell you whether it is necessary to supplement your coverage or increase the ceiling.

What protection does a self-employed person have at home?

If you started your own business from your living room, you must take certain precautions to secure your back. It is strongly recommended to inform your insurer of your situation in order to check your guarantees and protection conditions. This is all the more important if you have invested in high-end equipment. Any professional purchase must also be covered by dedicated insurance. If you have goods or stock, you can also protect them, as well as possible business interruption.

Please note, however, that not everything is permitted under a conventional residential lease. However, if your activity goes against what is authorized by your rental, your insurer will refuse to intervene in the event of a problem.

High-Tech

The videoconferencing application Zoom wants to strengthen its security

Economy

Telework: The keys to not get overwhelmed

Lease: beware of deviations

In principle, professionals must contract a specific lease to set up their activity in premises. But a certain tolerance is granted to workers who carry out their missions at home with their only computer.

Thus, the law allows you to work from home, under a residential lease, as long as it is your main residence and you receive neither customers nor goods. You are also prohibited from employing employees. But it is still necessary that the co-ownership regulation does not oppose it. Some indeed provide for an “exclusively bourgeois” housing clause, which excludes any professional activity at home. If you do not have to worry about occasional teleworking, it is therefore more prudent to inform yourself well before launching your start-up from your sofa.

  • Insurance
  • Coronavirus
  • Job
  • Housing
  • Advice