Even a small flood could devastate your business. But if you take the time to prepare your shop for a flood, you can respond effectively, and recover from losses, damage, or other setbacks as quickly as possible.
In this post we will discuss five key ways you can prepare your shop for a flood.
How To Check Your Risk of Flood
Is your shop located on a flood plain? Is there a history of floods in your area? Are any floods likely to happen in the near future? There are ways you can check. The Flood Hub has gathered a number of maps from the Environmental Agency. Together they provide both a five-day flood risk forecast along with the potential long-term flood risks for areas in the UK.
Check your premises on the flood risk maps.
You can also sign up for flood alerts and warnings from the UK government. This means you can get a call, text, or email giving you advanced warning if any floods are expected in your area, which could give you time to prepare. Sign up for government flood warnings.
How to Create Your Flood Plan
How would you respond in the event of a flood? What steps would you take to mitigate the damage and protect your most valuable stock and equipment?
This is where a flood plan can help. Take the time now to outline the specific actions you would take in the event of a flood. This way, you will be less likely to panic if disaster strikes, and more likely to take effective action.
Your flood plan should include:
- Steps you would take to ensure your personal safety, along with the safety of any staff or customers. How would you evacuate the premises, and where would you go?
- Steps you would take to secure your shop. This might include turning off the power to reduce the risk of electrical faults, and taking steps to prevent water ingress, and possible break-ins.
- Steps you would take to protect your valuable stock and equipment. We will cover what this might involve below.
- Who you would call – including your insurer, your suppliers, and anyone else who may need to know about the flood.
How to Make a Flood Kit
A flood kit should contain everything you might need to put your flood plan into action.
At the very least, you should have all the key contact details you will need to hand. But depending on the flood risk in your area, your flood kit could contain a range of equipment to help prevent water ingress and keep your shop and your stock safe.
View a full range of flood protection equipment, featuring everything from door protection to toilet stoppers.
Protecting Your Stock and Equipment
As part of your flood plan, you should outline steps you would take to safeguard your most valuable stock and equipment. This might include:
- Getting a secure and waterproof box to quickly store any cash and other valuables on your premises.
- Storing your most valuable stock on higher shelves, or on upper floors if possible.
- Quickly disconnecting any electrical equipment to move it to a high shelf or upper floor.
- Using flood prevention equipment (see above) to minimise the water ingress to your storerooms.
Get The Right Flood Insurance
It is important to ensure that your shop insurance policy covers you for all possible losses and damages that you may experience as a result of a flood.
Here are a few areas of cover you should not be without:
- Full flood cover – Your policy may cover you for flooding from heavy rainfall, burst riverbanks, and high tides. But it may not cover you for other types of flooding, including groundwater flooding. Make sure you are covered for every type of flood, including “escape of water” from within your shop premises.
- Stock and equipment cover – Your policy should provide cover for any stock or equipment that might get destroyed or damaged during the flood. If you sell food and drink, the cover should extend to any stock that goes bad due to loss of power to your fridges and freezers.
- Business interruption cover – Your policy should provide cover to protect your income should you be unable to trade as a result of a flood. Check your policy wording to ensure you have all the cover you need. Your shop might be out of action for longer than you expect.
Get The Insurance You Need From James Hallam
James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a team of experienced insurance professionals who are dedicated to protecting your shop from the risks you face.
Talk to us and we will give you access to a range of hand-picked, A-rated insurance providers. We will tailor a flexible insurance package that gives you cover at outstanding value.
Learn more about our tailored insurance solutions for shops like yours, and get a free quote today.