Mackay Insurance Blog

COVID 19 and Your Mackay Home Insurance

Like many people, on March 16, 2020, Mackay Insurance in Belleville, Ontario began to transition our staff from our town office to working from home in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus and to do our part in protecting you. During this time, we have experienced quite a few phone calls in regards to this increased time spent at home. Many of our Quinte home owners have been asking whether their home insurance policies should be updated now as well, due to working from home, using business tools within their home, holding business property within their homes, renovations and home maintenance updates etc. Our Quinte team of certified home insurance brokers have many suggestions for our clients in terms of these working from home transitions. Keep reading as we reflect on these changes and advise on  your home insurance policies! If you have any questions or would like more information in regards to any aspect of your home insurance, please contact us!

Home Insurance - Working From Home

Most home insurance policies in Ontario don’t include home business coverage, nor do they extend liability to working from home.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies actually changed their policy in order to include this coverage, but after July they are expected to revert back to the policy wordings as before, which don’t include working from home.

If you are temporarily working from home or, like Amazon and other tech companies, making a permanent transition to your home office, we definitely recommend getting this noted by your insurer and getting liability on your home insurance policy extended as soon as possible.  This can be done very inexpensively as well! Contact one of our qualified home insurance brokers today and we will get this sorted out for you!

Home Insurance - Business Tools

Most homeowner policies in Ontario have limited coverage for business tools/business property while at your residence as subject to your home policy deductible.  Many of our Quinte homeowner clients have brought home desktops or laptops, as well as other materials from their business offices and it is important to make note of these within your home insurance policy.  It’s not uncommon for your home insurance policy to limit business tools and property to $2,500 - $5,000.  In many circumstances, however, this isn’t enough.  We recommend speaking with your employer about this to see if their insurance extends to their property while at your home, or if they can increase the limits. 

Home Insurance - Business Property

Many of our clients who are working from home keep their company property within their house, which most policies will extend to with limited coverage.  Some clients, however, have left company property in their car, which we highly recommend not doing. For security reasons, empty your car each night of business property.  Leaving a laptop in your car is an easy target, and can also make your employer vulnerable to cyber security issues and could jeopardize your employer’s willingness to allow working from home to continue in the future. 

Home Insurance - Renovations

With the onset of the current pandemic, many of Mackay’s clients have opted out of vacations and travel and have, instead, invested in updating their workspaces at home. This includes upgrading renovations within their home. An interesting statistic has emerged where fire claims have actually increased during this pandemic, due to many clients attempting to renovate their homes themselves. Unfortunately, encountering electrical and other issues causing more fire claims. We highly encourage and recommend ensuring you have the proper building permits and hiring professionals to do all electrical work for you.  Before and after you do renovations, please contact your Mackay Insurance broker to update your home insurance policy and limits, and to ensure that you have the proper coverage for water, sewer, and overland coverage.  

Review Your Property Policy

While most of our country is spending more time in their homes, we are highly recommending you consult your property policy and review the data with respect to any of the following updates:

1. When was your roof last updated?
2.  How old is your furnace?
3.  How old is your wiring?
4.  How old is your plumbing?
5. What are your limits for sewer and overland water coverage?

Home Run Business Packages

For many, the transition of working from home is now permanent. 

At Mackay Insurance in Belleville, Ontario, we offer Home Run Business packages that will extend liability, and also increase commercial coverage for business property. To get a fast and easy online quote for updating your home insurance policy, please contact our team today or visit us online!