Commercial Flood Insurance – Do I Need it?
Let me ask you a hypothetical question:
“Would your business re-open after a flood?” (Forget, for a moment, the odds of a flood.)
Nationwide 40% of small businesses DO NOT re-open, according to federal government statistics.
The reason businesses fail to get on their feet again is there is no FLOOD insurance financing the recovery.
I can’t emphasize this enough: only a flood insurance policy covers damage to buildings and contents caused by a flood. Flood can be rising tidal waters, or it can be a water main or it can be storm runoff that affects 2 or more adjoining properties.
Your business doesn’t have to be washed away in a tidal storm to put the “kabash” on your future.
Only a few inches of water will cause you a major financial setback. In fact, the average flood claim to a covered business was more than $75,000 in 2007 thru 2011.
Commercial flood insurance is different than flood insurance for a house. Through the National Flood Insurance Plan (NFIP) you can buy up to $500,000 of building coverage and up to $500,000 for business property.
Remember Superstorm Sandy last year? Many of the businesses affected where those far from the coast and did not have flood insurance.
Let me send you the NFIP website page specifically talking about commercial flood risk and insurance…
https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/commercial_coverage/cc_overview.jsp
You can get more specific information there relative to the risk of loss, sample claims, preventative measures and the like.
Don’t forget that we are here to help you stay in business after a claim. We can’t do much for you after a flood, though, unless you’ve got the coverage.
By the way, it’s not as expensive as you might think.