Storms Austen and Boelo may have passed, but the widespread flooding, power outages and transport disruption they caused served as a reminder of how quickly severe weather can affect day-to-day operations. News coverage highlighted flooded roads, rail disruption, power cuts and significant impacts on local communities as severe weather swept across affected areas.
For businesses, the consequences ranged from damaged premises and interrupted trading to supplier delays, restricted site access and disruption to customer service.
Severe weather is becoming an increasingly important consideration for organisations of all sizes with the Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment, stating around 4.6 million properties in England are at risk from surface water flooding*.
While every business experienced the storms differently, it highlighted an important question: if similar disruption occurred again, how well equipped would your business be to respond?
What did the storms reveal about your business?
Severe weather can expose operational challenges that are easy to overlook during normal trading conditions.
Now is the time to think back to how your business was affected:
- Were employees able to work safely and effectively?
- Did customers experience delays or service interruptions?
- Were suppliers able to meet their commitments?
- Did power outages affect production, communications or customer service?
- Would you have been able to continue operating if the disruption had lasted longer?
Understanding what worked well and where challenges arose can help highlight practical improvements for the future.
If your business was damaged by the storms, what can you do?
If your business has suffered damage following severe weather, taking appropriate action as soon as its safe to do so may help prevent damage and support the claims process,
Once it is safe:
- Take photographs and make a written record of the damage.
- Keep receipts and other evidence of losses or emergency expenditure.
- Contact your insurer or insurance broker as soon as reasonably possible and follow any claims instructions provided.
- Where safe and reasonable, take steps to prevent further damage, but speak to your insurer or broker before arranging significant repairs or incurring substantial costs unless urgent action is necessary.
- Consider how the incident may affect your customers, suppliers and ongoing business operations.
Having a clear response plan can help ensure key actions are not overlooked during a stressful situation.
Insurance cover will depend on the circumstances of the loss and the terms, conditions, exclusions, excesses and limits of your individual policy. If you are unsure what action to take, contact your insurer or insurance broker for guidance.
Do you know what your business insurance covers?
Understanding how your insurance may respond before you need to make a claim can provide valuable clarity during an already challenging situation.
Depending on the policy, cover selected, and the circumstances of the loss, business insurance may provide protection for:
- Damage to buildings and business premises.
- Stock, machinery, tools and equipment.
- Clean-up and repair costs.
- Business interruption following an insured event, which may include additional costs such as temporary relocation, subject to the cover, limits and terms of the policy.
Cover varies between insurers and policies, so it is important to understand the terms, conditions, exclusions and limits that apply.
What should you do next?
The recent storms have provided an opportunity to review how your business responds when operations are disrupted. So take a moment to consider whether there are any lessons to take forward including reviewing your Business Continuity plan to ensure it is robust and provides resilience to your business, and test it regularly. This should include:
- Flood and severe weather response procedures.
- Communication with employees, customers and suppliers.
- Protection of critical equipment, machinery and stock.
- Your business insurance arrangements.
Taking action now can help strengthen your response and support a faster recovery in future should severe weather affect your business.
Need support?
If your business has been affected and you need to make a claim, or if you’d like to review your business insurance arrangements, the Adler Fairways team can help. We’re here to provide practical guidance and support for you and your business.
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*Source: Tackling flood risk inequality – Environment Agency: For homes and habitats
Luke Stevenson
Regional Director
Adler Fairways
