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PROFESSIONAL CHILDMINDING NEEDS A SPECIALIST INSURER
Working from home and being your own boss has many benefits. Working as a professional childminder who is educating and inspiring children daily is also a great reward, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Finding home contents and building insurance for childcare providers can be a difficult task, as lots of insurers believe that working as a childminder from home is a big risk. We’re not like every other insurer though. We want to make getting an online quote for your home business a simple and stress-free process.
TAILORED FOR YOU
Our childminder home insurance policy is designed for you and has a range of benefits and features that will protect your property, your possessions and your office equipment. Public liability, accidental damage cover, legal expenses and additional cover options can be tailored to meet your needs.
Home Insurance with business use Reviews

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What’s covered by HOME insurance with business use?
What we offer
Emergency help when you need it most
If you have a home emergency — such as a power outage, uncontrollable leak or a broken lock — our 24/7 Home Emergency cover is included as standard.
- We aim to get an engineer to you within four hours
- For serious water leaks, we’ll try to have a plumber with you in two hours
Response times may vary during extreme weather. Policy terms and claim limits apply.
5 star rated cover
Our insurance has received the highest rating from independent financial researchers, Moneyfacts.
Repair guarantee
We guarantee any buildings work we arrange after a claim for two years. Contents repairs are guaranteed for one year.
New for old
Where we replace a damaged or stolen item, we’ll do our best to match the original — on a ‘new for old’ basis. If that’s not possible, we’ll offer a suitable alternative or a full cash settlement.
Legal support when you need it
Family Legal Protection is included as standard. You’ll have access to expert telephone legal advice on personal matters under the laws of the UK and most of Europe.
What isn’t covered?
There are some things we can’t cover, including:
Gradual damage, wear and tear, or issues you knew about but didn’t fix
Faulty design, construction, or workmanship.
Damage caused by poor maintenance or neglect
Items you don’t own or aren’t legally responsible for
Items stolen from unoccupied vehicles
Damage caused by pets.
Mechanical or electrical breakdown
Keeping your home and belongings in good condition is essential. If damage happens because of neglect or poor maintenance, your claim may be declined, and your policy could be cancelled.
Home Insurance with business use Cover Levels
Our home insurance is designed to protect your home against insured events such as fire, storm, flood, escape of water, theft, malicious damage, subsidence, landslip or heave.
Buildings cover
Protects the main structure of your home, including attached garages and conservatories, and permanent outdoor features such as patios, driveways and boundary walls.
up to £1 million
(more cover available if you need it)
Contents cover
Protects your household contents — including furniture, clothing, appliances, gadgets and valuables — against events like fire, flood and theft. Cover is provided on a new for old basis. There is a standard limit of £10,000 for business equipment (although this can be increased by our underwriters).
from £25,000
Alternative accommodation
We’ll help cover the cost of temporary accommodation for you and your pets if your home becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event. If you stay with friends or family instead, we’ll cover your extra living costs.
up to £75,000 (Buildings)
up to £10,000 (Contents)
Home emergency
Covers sudden, unexpected emergencies — like an uncontrollable leak — that require immediate action to prevent damage or make your home secure. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £500
Family legal protection
Covers legal costs for certain insured events. There must be a reasonable chance of success, and the incident must happen during your policy term. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £25,000
Trace and access
We’ll pay to detect the source of a water or oil leak, and cover the cost of reinstating floors, walls or paths that were disturbed in the process.
up to £10,000
Outbuildings cover
Covers detached garages, greenhouses, sheds, summerhouses and other outbuildings within your boundary or any communal area you’re legally responsible for.
from £20,000
Liability cover
Covers your legal liability for accidental death, injury or illness to someone else, or damage to their property.
up to £5 million
Personal possessions
Covers items you wear, carry or use outside the home (e.g. clothing, bags and sports equipment).
Optional
Gadgets, bikes and valuables away from the home
Optional cover for mobile phones, laptops, tablets, watches, jewellery, hearing aids and other high-risk items you take out of your home.
Optional
Accidental damage
Optional cover for unexpected mishaps around the home — such as breakages, spillages or damage caused by you, your guests or wild animals. Two levels of cover are available.
Optional
important exclusions
- No cover for business tools or stock unless agreed by underwriters
- No cover for business money
Business Definitions
Business Equipment: Equipment used to run your business, such as computers, printers, monitors, routers, office furniture, and electronic gadgets, such as mobile phones and laptops.
Business Tools: Items used directly to perform a trade, craft, or service — such as scissors, clippers, kilns, or power tools. Not covered unless agreed by underwriters.
Business Stock: Items intended for sale — like bought-in products (e.g. clothing, cosmetics) or materials used to make goods (e.g. clay, fabric, paint). Completed handmade items are not covered.
Business Money: Cash used in the course of business — such as float money or takings. Not covered under this policy.
We may be able to extend cover for Business Tools and Business Stock following a referral to our underwriting team. We can also increase the Business Equipment claim limit beyond £10,000, if approved.
New Customer?
If you’re deciding on whether to buy home insurance with us, you can use our latest policy booklets as a guide.
Existing Customer?
Find answers to some of your questions here. Your latest policy documents are also available to view and download.
Your Questions Answered
When you run a business from home, it’s important to have legal expenses cover in place. The legal expenses cover gives you access to a 24/7 legal advice helpline, and will pay for legal bills relating to nuisance or trespass disputes and breach of contract for the sale or purchase of your property. The Homeprotect policy includes a basic level of legal expenses cover with every policy, providing up to £25,000 cover. You can upgrade to Full legal expenses to increase the cover limit to £50,000. Read more about the differences between Basic cover and Full cover.
It is in your best interests to have a written contract between you and any parents that you are providing childminder services to. In relation to home insurance, we provide up to £25,000 of legal expenses as standard within our home insurance. You may choose to upgrade this further when taking out cover.
You may well have noticed that very few insurers are comfortable with providing cover to childminders. In most cases, insurers believe that a home occupied by other people’s children is an unacceptably high risk. We don’t agree. We understand that childminding is your business, so you should be able to get buildings and contents cover in the same way that anyone else working from home does.
Your home insurance provider will need to be informed that you are running a business at home that involves your customers (parents and their children) being in your home on a regular basis. A mainstream home insurance provider generally won’t provide home insurance under these circumstances. You can get cover from Homeprotect, simply enter the details of your business visitors when you get an online quote.
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Our insurance experts are on hand if you have any questions.