When Severe Weather Causes Business Interruption

Business interruption insurance can help a business after a noteworthy weather event that harms the company. A severe storm in the way of a business’s everyday operations can cause immediate and long-term financial harm. Proactive planning enables companies to mitigate their losses, and having contingencies in place could reopen after a significant weather event.

Business Interruption: The Insurance Plan You Need

Here are some essential things that business owners need to do to manage weather emergencies effectively.

Protect the Business Against Losses

A dedicated business interruption insurance policy is a critical emergency resource that can shield a company from significant financial harm. What does business interruption insurance cover? This policy compensates businesses for lost revenue when a weather emergency prevents them from keeping a facility open or performing certain types of work. 

A policy’s benefits could be ongoing operating expenses such as rental payments for office space or equipment. In effect, this safeguard could equip a company to avoid defaulting on its obligations when it cannot generate revenue.  

Plan Ahead

When severe weather strikes, having a written emergency preparedness plan at the ready helps a company’s leadership and individual team members navigate a difficult situation. A plan centralizes information about local resources and identifies which safety measures employees need to prioritize. In addition, it lets people know who is responsible for each piece of emergency preparedness. 

A plan can identify possible countermeasures when something interferes with a business’ regular activities. Also, it may cover requirements for resuming them to ensure that staff can carry out work safely. 

Document Impact

To make a business interruption claim with an insurer, businesses must demonstrate how an event has affected logistics and revenue. To show financial losses, it is helpful to have good accounting practices in place. Organized record-keeping that shows income and expenses in detail will facilitate a smooth claims process and spare personnel from having to work on assembling financial data when they are contending with an emergency. 

Relevant documentation for business interruption insurance purposes may include accounting records, bank statements, and written communications with clients. Business owners should attempt to identify gaps in revenue with specificity.

Exercise Good Communication

Companies need to tell their customers exactly how an emergency will affect them. Service providers must make customers aware of how conditions could interfere with ongoing service provision and responses to requests for help. Vendors should relay changes to their hours and notify customers of delays in fulfilling outstanding orders or restocking in-demand items. 

Due to rising temperatures worldwide, the increasing frequency and severity of storms are likely to continue getting worse. Business owners must be ready to remedy foreseeable weather-related interruptions to their revenue. Strategic policies, managerial directives, and insurance elections can help business owners overcome challenges.

About Haughn & Associates

Founded by Michael Haughn in 1986, Haughn & Associates is a full-service, family-owned, independent insurance agency based out of Dublin, Ohio. H&A strives to provide the best possible price and unique insurance solutions across a myriad of industries, including construction, IT, Habitation & Commercial Property, Agriculture, and Engineering. Devoted to providing the best of business insurance, life and disability insurance, personal insurance, employee benefits, and bonds, H&A is proof that success lies in long-standing client relations and satisfaction. To learn more about how H&A can be of service to you, contact us at (877) 802-2278.