Is your business likely to flood?

Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in the UK. With this in mind, and given the potential costs involved, it’s important to know whether you have the right type of business insurance in place to protect your investment.

To help you work out the steps you need to be aware of, we’ve created this simple guide, alongside helpful hints on how you can find out if it’s likely that your business is at risk of flooding and how flooding can affect your insurance premiums.

Is my business really at risk of flooding?

It's estimated that many commercial premises in the UK are at risk of flood, with researchers predicting that climate change will increase flooding by 25% in the coming years, so it's worth checking whether you're fully covered and operating in an area that's at risk of flooding.

Keep up-to-date with flooding alerts

You can find out if your business is in a high flood risk area by visiting the Environment Agency website if you are in England, the National Resources Wales site in Wales or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency if you live in Scotland, using your post code. You’ll also be able to sign up to convenient mobile alerts.

How flood risk affects premiums and access to business insurance

Businesses that have flooded in the past, or that are in areas with a high risk of flooding, can face higher insurance premiums – this is because it’s more likely that their insurer will have to pay out after a flood.

There are considerations:

• Firms should make sure that they’re as physically protected as possible, potentially installing flood protection measures. like waterproof linings in basements.
• Check your documents to make sure you have a level of cover that you’re happy with if anything should happen.

The cost of flooding for business

One of the great inconveniences of flood damage is that it can take such a long time to fix, partly because any property has to be completely dried out before any substantial repairs and rebuilding starts, which can take several months.

Flood water can contain sewage and infectious diseases too, so there may also need to be extra work to make sure the property is clean and safe to return to.

For businesses which are unable to trade during this time, it can be extremely challenging. But the good news is that firms can insure themselves against any interruption to their income caused by flooding.

Business interruption insurance is often included in, or added as an optional extra to, business insurance, and can also be offered as an optional extra on buildings and contents insurance policies.This protects you against any losses caused by having to shut up shop.

If you do experience flood damage, see how you can make a claim with our easy to follow guide.

Published: 8th February 2017

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