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You'll need to refer to your specific policy to see if this is covered but if you currently purchase employer’s liability cover for your business, then it should extend to cover them while they are working from home during this period, if in doubt please call your insurer. 

Please note you're still responsible for your employees Health and Safety whilst they are working from home e.g. ensuring they have appropriate equipment to perform their job safely e.g. workstation meets health and safety guidelines. Most employees' home insurance will allow them to perform clerical work from home but typically will not cover business visitors or business stock, so please check with your member of staff.

You'll need to refer to your specific policy to see if this is covered as it will often be optional to cover the likes of laptops, tablets or mobile phones that belong to the business but your employee takes home, if in doubt please call your insurer.

If you're not covered on your insurance it doesn't mean you're not legally responsible for them as it's unlikely your employees home insurance would cover business equipment that doesn't belong to the employee.

You would normally need to notify us if your property was going to be left unoccupied for beyond the allowable period stated in your policy.  Given the exceptional circumstances at the moment, many insurers are reviewing their policy conditions with a view to increasing flexibility.  In the meantime we recommend to shut off the water supply and gas to the premises if safe to do so and not business critical, and ensure that any measures to prevent thefts are taken, such as locking away or removing equipment, setting intruder alarms and if safe to do so periodically check the premises are secure e.g. once a week.  If in doubt please contact your insurer via the telephone number in your policy documents.

Your policy documents will tell you the type of cover you have.

Business insurance helps to protect business owners and independent professionals against everyday risks, such as accidents in the workplace and associated public liability, stock or premises damage, legal costs and cyber-attacks. There are also some types of insurance that a business is legally obliged to have, such as employer’s liability and commercial motor insurance.

Even in a time when a business is unable to operate as usual due to the impacts of COVID-19, it’s important that businesses remain covered for standard risks, many of which may be more likely when the property is unoccupied, such as vandalism of the property, theft of stock or equipment, or even loss of information or damage to IT systems and networks.

Every day insurers pay out £22 million to help firms cope with these unwelcome events. If a business without adequate insurance cover experienced significant damage whilst temporarily closed,  their ability to get back up and running once permitted to do so could be delayed. 

However, should you need to speak to us about your circumstances please call us but please be aware we may have extended waiting times.

Public liability insurance protects you if you injure someone or damage their property in the course of running your business.

It may cover claims relating to COVID-19, depending on the individual case. Crucially, the main area for consideration will be if you or your business has been proven to be negligent, which has resulted in a third party being impacted by COVID-19.

Being negligent means that – as a result of your actions – you've caused damage or injury to others that could have reasonably been foreseen and avoided, as opposed to someone else being careless.

Employers’ liability insurance protects you if an employee or ex-employee sues for illness or injury caused by their work. It’s a legal requirement if you have employees and can pay compensation costs and legal fees.

It may cover claims relating to COVID-19, depending on the individual case. As with public liability, the main area for consideration will be if you or your business has been proven to be negligent, which has resulted in your employee being impacted by COVID-19.

In the case of employers' liability, being negligent means that as a result of actions by you (that could have reasonably been foreseen or avoided) your employee has been injured or fallen ill, as opposed to someone else being careless.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation, the government has extended MOT due dates for lorries, buses and trailers which are from 21st March by three months, for more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-mots-for-lorries-buses-and-trailers

Please refer to your policy schedule and document to see whether you hold Business Interruption cover. Whilst Business Interruption does not typically extend to cover loss of income or profit from COVID-19 related incidences, this can vary by insurer and the nature of your claim.

Therefore, if your business has been affected and you are seeking to make a claim, please contact your insurer, whose contact details are in your policy document and will clarify if you are eligible to claim.  As you will appreciate there could be delays in getting a response due to the unprecedented circumstances facing the country, so if you have an enquiry rather than a claim we would ask you to hold back from contacting the insurer so they can focus on supporting customers who are in urgent need.

In addition, your business may be eligible to benefit from the UK Government’s new financial measures to support businesses through this challenging period. Find out whether your business is eligible, and how you may be able to benefit, at: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/

Please check your policy documentation, Swinton sell two policies:

1. Landlord Legal Expenses  - doesn’t include rent guarantee
2. Landlord Legal Expenses & Rent Guarantee – includes rent guarantee

So, it will depend which (if any) of the above policies you chose to purchase in addition to your Landlord Property Insurance policy.  If you have Landlord Legal Expenses & Rent Guarantee please read on below.

The Act increases the period of notice that must be given to a tenant for possession of the property, in relation to rent arrears, from two weeks to three months, with provision to increase this further. Therefore, whilst notice of required possession can still be issued, no court proceedings to enforce possession can be commenced until the three-month notice period has elapsed.

Alongside this, we are aware of a number of county courts closing; advising that they will suspend or postpone possession hearings. We’re also aware of county court bailiffs refusing to attend properties to evict tenants, where those tenants are known to remain in occupation of the property. It will therefore take longer for possession of any property to be obtained. 

All other terms and conditions of your policy still need to be met with regards to referencing and documents to supply (see your policy terms for full details of what‘s needed).

For new claims reported after implementation of the Act i.e. from 26^th March 2020, rent guarantee payments will be made:

• after the landlord has actively engaged in mediation with the tenant, and
• has been unable to reach an agreement to deal with any rent arrears, and
• we have therefore issued notice for possession to the tenant.

No, the policy will only pay out if we have accepted a claim under your policy to evict your tenant.

If the tenant is in breach of the tenancy agreement i.e. non-payment of rent, then that is an insured event and must be reported within 45 days (or whatever notice period your policy stipulates).

We appreciate this is a difficult time for everybody and landlords don’t want to be evicting their tenants at this time. The government has set out its intention for landlords and tenants to mediate, to reach an amicable and mutual agreement to deal with any rent arrears. This is coupled with unprecedented levels of financial assistance being made available to both businesses and the public, intended to reduce the risk of tenants falling into rent arrears in the first place. Further, to lessen any adverse impact to landlords resulting from the Act, ‘mortgage holidays’ will be made available.

If the landlord and tenant agree a payment holiday, and this is formalised by an addendum to the Tenancy Agreement, this is not an insured event and does not need to be notified to us. We will not cover rent if the landlord / tenant have agreed a payment holiday. We will only pay rent when we are evicting the tenant. This will not prevent a claim being notified to us within 45 days if the tenant then fails to keep to the new agreement.