Working from home: what are the risks and what does it mean for my insurance cover?
Working from home has become a popular trend in recent years. A trend that has given rise to a new problem: private infrastructures are not adapted to the risks for which companies are so well prepared. How many homes have burglar alarms? Or a shredder for sensitive documents? An inventory of the risks you face and the insurance that covers them.
You are covered by your employer's insurance
The important thing to remember is that, when you work from home, you are subject to the same security rules as you would normally when working in the company’s premises. If you respect these rules, your employer's insurance will also protect you when you work from home.
As an employee, you therefore do not need to take out any specific insurance or notify your insurer of your situation.
As a professional (e.g. self-employed), you should check whether your professional multi-risk insurance contract covers working from home and under what conditions.
What should you do if something happens to your professional equipment?
You are away from home to run errands. Your home is locked, but does not have a security alarm. You are the victim of a burglary and all your valuables, including your professional laptop, are stolen. What can you do?
Your private belongings are covered by your home insurance.
As for your professional laptop, you will have to report the theft immediately to your employer. Given that they are the owner of the equipment, they will take care of the formalities with their own insurer. The same applies in the event of breakage or fire.
If you are your own boss, you alone are responsible for your equipment. You must therefore declare the damage to your professional multi-risk insurance.
Data theft and cybercrime: increased risks when working off-site
Very often, the workplace is designed to be a fortress against break-ins, with badges to access each room, shredders to destroy sensitive documents without leaving traces, and firewalls to limit the risk of computer hacking.
When you work from home, it's harder to set up the same level of protection. Who hasn't left a document containing customer information lying around in an unlocked room? Who has never forwarded an email to their private, unsecured email inbox?
These are typical examples of what should be avoided. Again, you are subject to the same rules as if you were working on your company premises. If it is forbidden to use a private mailbox in your company, you must impose the same rigour at home. If, on site, you are asked to store your documents in a locked cupboard, you must imperatively store them in a place that is also inaccessible at home. If your company has a shredder, you should not throw your confidential documents in the trash, but wait until you return to your office to destroy them.
Similarly, your employer must provide you with a VPN (a system allowing you to connect to the company's computer network) so that your data has the same level of computer security as it would normally have.
If all these rules are respected, but a hacking or theft of a document still takes place, the liability lies with the employer.
Just make sure that you inform your employer beforehand of the need for teleworking.
