Examining Your Commercial Policies Ahead of a Disaster | SERVPRO® of Houston County

7/14/2020 (Permalink)

Disasters can happen suddenly and probably occur more often than you realize. In 2019, the losses from natural catastrophes reached $150 billion worldwide, and that does not include other emergency types that could impact your business, such as fires or localized floods. 

Making sure your business is prepared is not something you want to leave until after a disaster strikes. We recommend that every business put a disaster preparedness plan in place well before they need it, and part of that is checking your insurance coverage to make sure you are protected. 

Below, we will walk you through some considerations to keep in mind as you do this and point out some additional policies you can add to your general commercial insurance. 

A Guide to Insurance Options to Protect Your Business From Disasters 

General Property Insurance General insurance is the first thing you will want to assess when you evaluate your coverage. You will want to be sure both your building and its contents are insured for their current replacement value instead of what it was assessed at when you got your policy. For certain items, there may be specific exclusions written into your policy. 

Flood Insurance One of the main exclusions to be aware of with general commercial insurance is flood coverage. In most cases, a standard commercial policy will provide no coverage to flooding damage, so this is a policy you will want to consider adding to your portfolio. Even if you are not in a known floodplain, it may be better to have the coverage just in case. 

Business Interruption Insurance Another thing that is often excluded from a general policy is the income you will lose while being closed for repairs to your building. This interruption of income can be catastrophic for businesses operating on tight margins, but if you purchase business interruption insurance, you can receive some compensation in the form of estimated revenue for the duration of the closure. 

If your business is damaged in a disaster, we are here to help you! You can get in touch with us 24/7 to receive a quick response from our expert restoration technicians.