Home insurance to cover business equipment

Insurance provider Aviva is extending its home contents policy to cover business equipment as standard.

The company made the decision following the release of statistics from the Future Foundation, which showed that a quarter of the working population will be based at home by 2020.

Contents insurance will provide cover for loss or damage to office equipment and furniture up to the value of £5,000.

Julie Fromant, home lifestyle manager at Aviva UK, said: "We recognise the growing trend in home working and that for many, working from home requires additional investments that need to be protected.

"We felt it was right that this should be covered as standard, as part of the home contents policy, and hope this provides extra security for home workers in the UK."

The cover is available to all new and existing customers when they renew their home insurance policy.

Figures released by the Trades Union Congress in May of this year showed that 3.5 million people in the UK work from home.