Flood Resilience: Strategies for Keeping Your Business Moving Forward

If your business faces flooding, it may require more than just a mop, bucket, and a few days with a dehumidifier to return to normal operations. With the UK experiencing increasingly severe weather patterns and more frequent river and coastal flooding, business owners must plan strategically for recovery and resilience.

Inspect your building’s structure

If you can access your building, start by examining the outer structure and taking photos as you go.

1. External inspection: Check the property’s exterior for immediate hazards or damage. Use caution tape to secure any unsafe areas and keep them cordoned off until safety can be confirmed.
2. Interior inspection: If it is safe to enter, avoid turning on the lights. Use torches to inspect walls, floors, doors, and windows to ensure the building is not at risk of collapsing.
3. Electrical and gas safety: Avoid areas with flooded electrical circuits and appliances until the power has been turned off. Listen for any gas leaks and be cautious of electrical cables or flammable materials in the water, such as fuel.
4. Foundation check: Examine the foundations for cracks and damage, paying particular attention to retaining walls.
5. Insurance claim: Complete and submit a claim form as soon as possible, including as much photographic evidence as possible for your insurance broker.
6. Power and communication: Even if the power is still on, limit your use of mobile phones and battery-operated radios to preserve their battery life in case of a power failure.

Contact the appropriate people and services

Based on your review of the property, you may need to contact some or all of the following:

• Emergency services such as the fire department and utilities companies.
• A security company should you require surveillance due to significant damage to the property that may allow entry to trespassers (and supply a list of approved employees).
• Your insurance broker so that an adjuster can be sent to the site. If you are a Gallagher customer and have Business Assist cover, then contact the helpline for one of our internal former loss adjusters to help you prepare your claim.
• Professional services that can help reduce further damage, such as cleaning companies, electricians, plumbers and biohazard companies, to help reduce further damage/issues that may result from standing water.

Swiftly prepare for future flood events

Right after a flood can be an ideal time to plan for similar events, as the challenges you’re facing are still fresh in your mind.

• Review your flood plan, pinpoint areas for improvement, and update it as needed.
• Replace and restock items on your disaster supply list.
• Implement the necessary mitigation measures as advised by your broker or insurer.
• Reassess your overall business continuity plan, including supply chain resilience, to ensure your arrangements are still fit for purpose.
• Consider whether the indemnity period on your business interruption insurance policy is sufficient should your business face another flooding event of similar or greater impact.

Prepare what you need to make a flood claim

Before a commercial flood insurance claim can be initiated:

• Provide your claims handler with as much detail as possible, such as:
  • Preliminary damage assessment report with documented photos and/or videos of the damage.
  • Interior and exterior asset inventory with pre-flood photos and/or videos, if possible.
• Identify and sort damaged versus undamaged contents, equipment and stock.
• Secure your premises to prevent further loss or damage.

Things to note during the claims process

• During and immediately after a flood event, there will likely be a high-volume claim reporting period, and the adjuster assignment may take some time.
• Access to the flooded areas may be limited for a period of time until the water recedes, and it is common to have standing water that becomes polluted, potentially causing further issues.
• If you need to repair any buildings, competition for labour and materials will be high in an already challenging construction sector, where supply chain issues are still being felt.
• If you are already a Gallagher client, your Gallagher representative is here to assist and ensure you are in control of the claim progress—including working closely with your claims adjuster.

How robust is your business continuity plan?

Being impacted by a flood is a real test of your organisation’s business continuity plan and sometimes it’s not until an unexpected event occurs that you realise there are areas where improvement may be necessary.

If you would like our specialist Risk Management team to work alongside you in reviewing your plan, you can find out more on our business continuity planning page or get in touch with us directly on 0800 138 7538.