An office has physical and digital dependencies
An office-based business may not have heavy machinery or public inventory, but it can still depend on laptops, records, leased space, communications and cloud systems. An office package combines selected coverage areas; it is not a fixed product that suits every professional firm.
Describe the business activities as well as the premises. Professional services, medical information, client funds or technology hosting can require coverage beyond the office package.
Property needs a current inventory
Commercial property insurance may address furniture, computers, tenant improvements, records and other contents after an insured loss. Review portable equipment, property at employees’ homes, leased hardware and stock held off site. Ask about settlement basis, deductibles, water damage and equipment breakdown.
Maintain an equipment inventory with serial numbers, receipts and photographs. Cloud access does not replace backups or records needed to recreate work.
Liability, cyber and crime address different events
Commercial general liability may respond to covered premises or operations claims. It does not replace professional liability for alleged errors in advice or services. Cyber insurance and crime coverage address other specified events, such as a privacy incident, network disruption, employee dishonesty or social engineering.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends baseline controls including strong authentication, patching, backups, incident planning and employee training.
Consider how the business would keep operating
Business interruption insurance generally requires an insured trigger and uses defined calculation periods. Identify alternate workspace, remote-work capacity, critical vendors, telephone recovery and the time needed to replace specialized equipment or records.
Leases and home offices need disclosure
A lease may require specified limits, additional insured status or coverage for tenant improvements. Share it before binding. A home policy may restrict business property and liability; tell both the home and business insurers when an office operates from a residence.
Prepare for the review
Bring the lease, office locations, revenue, staff and contractor counts, services, equipment and improvement values, data practices, security controls and loss history. Contact Westoak to compare the package with the actual dependencies of the office.