Flood Advice | Prevent a flood from putting your businesses at risk – Help I’m Flooded, brought to you by Lloyds TSB Insurance

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Information to help you with business if it gets flooded

Small & Medium Businesses

Prevention

How to make sure it doesn't happen to you

Start by accepting that disaster can strike anyone, any time, any place. There are eight simple steps to take:

List everything that you think could possibly go wrong, then show your list to someone outside your business who you trust, and ask if they can think of anything you've missed
Decide who will be affected in each eventuality and how
Review your insurance to ensure that you are adequately covered for all the insurable risks.
Create contingency plans for dealing with all the major risks. Many insurance companies will reduce your premiums if you have such a contingency plan in place
Keep copies of these off-site, along with useful numbers and details of your insurance policies, in case your premises burn down!
Test the plans with dummy runs. Involve all your staff, just as you do with a simple fire drill
Develop a follow-up plan to recoup your business's good name, if this has been affected, and also your customers, who may have had to go elsewhere in the meantime
Revisit your plans at least once a year and update them if necessary

Planning for insurable risks

If you are concerned that your business is at risk from flooding you should review what insurance cover you have, what could be added to your policy and what things are best dealt with by setting up a contingency fund.

As well as the obvious cover for buildings, equipment and stock, you should insure against loss of profits and additional expenses (such as renting alternative premises or equipment) through business interruption insurance. These are part of most standard commercial policies, or can be included as additional cover.

Covered everything? Use this business flood checklist

Are you prepared for flooding? If you answer 'no' to any of the questions below, there may be more you can do to protect your business. The relevant sections of this guide will give you valuable information on effective actions you can take to prepare for a flood.

Know your flood risk

Do you know if you're at risk of flooding? Yes/no
Are flood warnings available in your area? Yes/no
Do you know how you can receive flood warnings? Yes/no

Preparing a flood plan

Do you know how your business will respond to a flood? Yes/no
Do you have a list of useful numbers including Floodline, local authority and insurance company? Yes/no
Do you know how to shut off your gas/electric/water supplies? Yes/no
Are your stock, fittings and valuable equipment stored above flood level? Yes/no
Have you developed flood contingency plans with suppliers and/or clients? Yes/no
Can you call someone to help you in the event of a flood? Yes/no

Staff training and evacuation

Are you aware of correct flood safety procedures for you and your staff? Yes/no
Have you trained your staff on flood safety procedures? Yes/no
Can your staff work quickly and efficiently to protect your business in the event of a flood? Yes/no

Protecting property

Have you installed flood protection products? Yes/no
Do you have a stockpile of useful materials including plywood, plastic sheeting, sandbags (unfilled), sand, nails, hammer, shovel, blocks of wood and a saw? Yes/no
Have you installed non-return valves in your toilets and drains? Yes/no
Do you and your staff have high ground where you can park your cars? Yes/no
Are your electrical sockets above flood level? Yes/no
Do you have computer equipment in the basement? Yes/no

Flood insurance

Do you have sufficient insurance cover in the event of a flood situation? Yes/no
Do you know what information your insurer will require to support a claim? Yes/no

Evacuation

Do you have an easy way to let your staff know about an evacuation? Yes/no
Do you know which roads will stay open in your area during a flood? Yes/no
Have you identified where staff can shelter in the event of a flood? Yes/no
Could you control staff panic during a flood? Yes/no

For further information on Business Contigency Planning visit Lloydstsb Business for at access our Essential Business Guide

Testing and acting on your plan

Once you have worked out your contingency plans, organise some dummy runs of as many of them as is feasible. This may not be possible beyond the level of informing your staff and ensuring that each one is equipped to perform their part of the plan – for instance, keeping a copy of an up-to-date list of your customers or suppliers off-site.

Where your assessment and planning has suggested a need to obtain back-up facilities, start arranging these straight away. For example, if you need to move into temporary office accommodation, where are the nearest, most suitable alternatives? You may be able to make reciprocal arrangements with another local business, so doing this needn't be expensive.

Take advice

There are many sources of help with risk assessment and contingency planning. Start with your insurance company. Most commercial insurers employ risk managers to help their clients.

Alternatively, there are a number of commercial organisations and professional bodies in this field. As well as being a source of consultants and training, they offer lots of useful information and guidance notes. These include:

The Business Continuity Institute – it has an excellent website at www.thebci.org, with numerous useful links. Tel: 0870 603 8783
The Emergency Planning Society – it has training sessions on crisis management for smaller businesses. www.emergplansoc.org.uk. Tel: 08456 009587
The Cabinet Office – it offers advice on preparing for emergencies on its website at www.pfe.gov.uk. You can also download copies of the Government's Emergency Planning Booklet