Do I need to pay to insure my employers it equipment?

[MiddleOfThePack]

I work for a local council. We've been wfh during Covid-19 as has everyone else, using council issued it equipment. We were told yesterday that we needed to pay to insure it ourselves. No one has even thought of that and I don't think it's correct? Can anyone tell me who is responsible for it?

yes, we were asked to include it in out home contents insurance.

I guess it depends. I can't imagine anyone caring about a crappy monitor.

I would have thought it's a greater risk of it malfunctioning and setting fire to MY property...how does that sit with health and safety regs?

It's a bit more complex when you're insuring something owned by another party. Have they suggested an insurer?

If you are using work equipment at home it should be included in your house insurance. If you don't have insurance you need to inform your workplace.

You could put it on your house insurance, but your employer really should reimburse you for the expense of additional premiums.

Just wish they'd told us before now. Considering we have been wfh for nearly 18 months, no one know we should have insured the equipment, so we've been using all this investment at our own risk it seems?

do you have a work from home pack?
ours included:

• self assessment of suitable work station at home, which includes the requirement to insure
• list of borrowed equipment
• wfh agreement, including core hours, availability to go to the office if required by management etc

Sounds unusual I organise insurance for our small company and office equipment is included at employees homes as well as the office. We would require a crime number etc if it was stolen.

What items are they asking you to insure, at what level and what circumstances (damage? Theft? Fire? Loss of data?)

A monitor or a mouse or keyboard will cost less than a lot of people's excess, so if it was damaged, you would be unlikely to be able to claim on your insurance.

Laptop - this is a depreciating asset so if they've given you a 2 year old laptop it will be worth a fraction of the cost of a new one, in fact it could be negligible. If they're expecting 'new for old' tell them to go whistle, that's an expensive cover employees shouldn't have to finance out of their family budget.

Your employer needs to specify what they mean in clear terms. They sound vague and haven't thought this through, so do nothing until they've given you the information. If you are in a union then get them involved.

Your union will hold their feet to the fire and ask searching questions such as whether there has been a reduction in running costs, and if so why is the employer trying to profit out of the employees at a time of significant financial hardship to many people and they have effectively gained during COVID.

Btw, I work in public sector and our employer has never asked us to cover our computer equipment during wfh phase.

The employee's side of the bargain is that we will look after the equipment and not subject it to deliberate non-wear and tear damage.

I'm not paying to insure equipment that I don't own and that would increase my premiums 🤷‍♀️

I rang my home insurance and they won't cover work equipment and told me my employer has to insure it.

Just wait till you need to insure your house for business use too, then declare it to your mortgage provider, then it is liable for business rates.................