Flood guidance for flooded business premises
James Payne • Feb 16, 2020
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Many businesses have been devastated overnight with the floods in the town centre. Our thoughts are with all the wonderful hard working businesses and staff that have been affected by the floods overnight. Please see a guide below based on information from Floodguidance.co.uk on the steps to take next.
Flood water is often dangerous, due to its speed, depth, hidden obstacles or contamination in the water.
The most important thing to do is to make sure that you and your employees remain safe!
Either move to upper parts of the property and call for assistance, or leave the property by a safe, dry route. If anyone remains in the flooded property and the mains electricity supply was not turned off before the flood, do not touch any electrical appliances until you are told it is safe to do so.
Call 999 if there is any threat to life.
When everyone is safe follow these principles below to recover from this flood damage:
- First Steps
- When can I return to my business?
- How do i repair my business?
- Further support
First Steps
Notify your insurance company that the property has been flooded!
Although you cannot yet identify the damage caused, you can establish whether they will provide alternative work space and emergency funding which may enable your business to continue running.
Implement your business recovery plan
Notify customers
- If applicable, notify customers of the temporary disruption.
Speak to your insurer
- If your insurance company will not cover an alternative work space for you and your employees, you could consider:
- Moving to a new office
- Employees working from home
- Renting another property in the area (as a short term solution)
- Do not return to the property until you are told it is safe to do so.
When can I return to my business?
- Make your own record of the flood damage
- Contact your insurance company again, if you have one. You may have done this already, to advise them that the property has been flooded and to arrange a temporary alternative workplace. Once you regain access to the property, you will need to contact them again to arrange for a loss adjuster to visit. They should also be able to explain to you how the claims process works.
- If the property is rented, it may be the landlords insurer (and loss adjuster) who will be involved in assessing the damage to the building whilst your own insurer will assess the loss of contents, stock, equipment and business interruption. To complete the process you will need to liaise with both insurers.
How do I repair my business?
- If you own the property, start to organise the process of drying out and eventual repair/replacement
- If you are a tenant of the property, or only lease part of the building, it is likely to be your landlord who organises this process.
- Where an insurer is covering part or all of the cost, their loss adjuster will be the main point of contact between you and the insurance company. Although decisions on the claim are the sole responsibility of the insurance company, who will usually still remain in contact with you or the landlord, it is the loss adjuster who you will deal with on a regular basis. So do not commission works until the insurer has agreed. If you are not insured (and own the property), you may start work immediately.
Consider installing property flood resilience measures
- If the property is likely to be flooded again, they may want to do the repair work in a way that helps to reduce the damage that the next flood causes. This can be done by installing Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures. Sometimes the insurer will be willing to fund all or part of the cost of that work.
Get consent from your landlord (if you have one)
- You may need your lender’s consent, or consent from your landlord or a superior landlord, for any repairs or replacement of parts of the property, so check your mortgage deed and lease, or call the lender. It is prudent to wait until you have that consent before starting work.
More information available at: https://www.floodguidance.co.uk/flood-guidance/business-premises-flooded/
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WE’RE HIRING: BUSINESS CRIME REDUCTION PARTNERSHIP CO-ORDINATOR
Take a look at everything happening in Your Pontypridd this Halloween and half-term break!
Bravery, innovation, leadership, selflessness: just some of the attributes that were celebrated last night with the return of the annual South Wales Police Awards last night. The awards, held at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, recognised officers, staff, volunteers and partners who have gone above and beyond for the force and the communities served by South Wales Police. The Taff Neighbourhood Policing Team which serves the community of Pontypridd, were nominated for two awards - the Police Community Support Officer of the Year Award & the Police and Crime Commissioner Exceptional Problem Solving in Partnership Award. The Taff team were successful in securing both awards, a major achievement for the town's local Policing team. The first award for the Taff Neighbourhood Policing Team went to PCSO Hannah Lowe who was described as the "Heart and soul of Pontypridd town" - Hannah Lowe, who is committed to tackling crime and disorder and is an integral part of initiatives including Pontypridd Outreach, a Halloween trail and a building painting project. Please see the video below from South Wales Police Twitter page showing Hannah's reaction to receiving the award:
