Business

Business Flood Planning

Planning ahead for flooding will ensure that you can respond to the incident in the most efficient way. You can do this by creating a basic plan of action, signing up multiple people to receive flood alerts and warnings, and considering your insurance options.

Business Flood Plans

It is always a good idea to create a flood plan if your business is situated in a flood risk area, even if it has never been flooded before. It ensures that in the case of receiving a flood alert or warning you are prepared to take action, can deploy any temporary resistance measures efficiently, and are best prepared to protect the property and contents from the impacts of flooding. This will minimise financial losses and help with business continuity.

The information on this page explains how to create your business flood plan. Click here to download the ‘Business Flood Planning Guide’ which contains all of this information.

You can download a printable version of a business flood plan here. The document contains a pre-populated flood plan, and a blank flood plan which you can complete yourself or with other staff members and keep in a suitable, easy-to-see place that all staff members are aware of.

Businesses of all sizes should consider having a flood plan, and for larger businesses with multiple sites the flood risk should be considered on a site-by-site basis. This may be done centrally by the head office, however it is important that site managers understand what plans are in place for their premises and ensure that site specific changes are made to best protect the property and staff.

There is a Business Resilience Healthcheck available here which you can complete for your business and receive a report outlining options for you to consider as a starting point for creating a business resilience plan.

The Environment Agency’s ‘Would your business stay afloat?’ document also offers help when preparing your business for possible flooding, suggesting some actions that you can take with a simple flood plan template that you can use.

Steps to Completing Your Business Flood Plan

1. Create a flood plan checklist

Create a checklist to make sure you take all the measures you can to plan and prepare for potential flooding in the future. You can tailor the checklist to suit the specific needs of your business, and it can include points such as:

2. Gather a contact list

Taking time to gather together some important contacts could be a massive help as it means you will easily be able to find the telephone numbers of emergency contacts you may need to talk to if flooding occurs. Here are some suggested contacts:

Ring the Environment Agency’s Floodline (0345 988 1188) if you are unsure of the immediate risk to yourself or require flooding advice. The Environment Agency incident hotline (0800 80 70 60) should be used to report a flood.
Gas, electricity, water and telephone suppliers will help you to locate and turn off these supplies.
Local radio stations will be up to date with the latest news and weather conditions.
Staff contact details can be listed with clear indication of those who are involved in the flood plan, have been trained in putting the flood plan in to action and do not live in a flood risk area.
Ring your insurance company when flooding has occurred and you have decided to make a claim as they will tell you what to do to ensure your claim remains valid.
Contact the landlord of the business premises if you do not own it.

3. Consider documents, equipment and property flood resilience products

Identify any important documents, products or equipment that need to be protected and note their locations so you can quickly access them. It is essential that a business identifies the data and equipment that is key to business continuity, and either stores these items in a safe area at all times or identifies on the flood plan where they should be moved to as a priority. You should think about:

Paper files – make a copy of important documentation and store in a safe location.
Electronic files and databases – all important documents and data should be regularly backed up on iCloud, Google Drive or another online storage system, or backed up on an external hard drive and stored out of the flood risk area.
Stock, equipment and electrical items – raise items above ground level or to an upper level of the building.
Hazardous materials – if stored in a flood risk area containers must be protected e.g. moved, protected by barriers, or secured so they can’t float away.
Vehicles – move to a safer location or higher ground, this may be off site.

If you have any temporary property flood resilience measure that need putting in place if flooding is expected, make sure that you make a note of where it is stored and how to install it. This will help you to find it quickly and should allow you to install it as easily as possible.

4. Develop a step-by-step action plan

As part of your flood plan document it is a good idea to set out actions to take when flood alerts and warnings are received.

Firstly, make sure you are signed up for free flood alerts and warnings from the Environment Agency which can be received by call, text or email by more than one individual at the business. It is important to understand what the different warnings mean so you can use them as a trigger to put your plan into place at the right time. Discover alternative flood warnings here. Out of office contact numbers and contact details for additional staff members who are local and able to attend if a warning is received, should also be signed up to receive flood alerts and warnings.

Secondly, decide what actions you will take at each flood warning stage. Some ideas are suggested below:

‘Flood Alert’ – Flooding to low lying land and roads is possible. Stay vigilant and make early preparations for a potential flood.

Monitor the situation and check the forecast.
Ensure you have access to the flood plan, property flood resilience products and flood kit.
Ensure that staff are aware that a flood alert is in place and the actions to take if the situation develops.

‘Flood Warning’ – Flooding is expected. Immediate action is required to protect yourself and your property.

Move stock and equipment upstairs or to safety.
Deploy temporary flood resistance products (keep a note of where they are stored and how to install them).
Move all vehicles and staff cars out of the flood risk area if possible.
If feasible, evacuate staff who won’t be needed to put the flood plan in place prior to a severe flood warning.

‘Severe Flood Warning’ – Severe flooding is expected. Significant risk to life and property. Prepare to evacuate and cooperate with emergency services.

Upon receiving a severe flood warning you will need to evacuate yourself and all staff from the premises and cooperate with advice from the emergency services.
Turn off gas, electricity and water supplies if possible and safe to do so before you evacuate.

A plan of what to do if you need to evacuate should be included in your flood plan. You should follow local news or contact your local council to find the nearest emergency assistance centre.

For more ideas on what you can add to your step-by-step plan of action, download our Business Flood Planning Guide.

It is good practice to fully test your flood plan once finished. Run a ‘flood drill’ with staff so they know what to do and what to expect if you ever have to put your plan into place, and run training if necessary.

It is important that your flood plan is reviewed regularly to ensure that contact details are up to date. You should create a maintenance schedule to check that any property flood resilience measures still function correctly, and practice installing it periodically.

Property Flood Resilience

In order to prepare for flooding, become more resilient to its effects, and reduce the impact it has, you can implement property flood resilience (PFR) measures to your business premises. These measures include both flood resistance (keeping water out) and flood resilience (reducing damage when water enters). There are many different products and techniques available to help protect your property. For more detailed information, visit our Property Flood Resilience page here.

Considerations specific to business owners:

IT equipment should be placed in suitable locations. Moving IT upstairs, or placing it on raised desks or shelves will reduce the risk of floodwater reaching it.
Racking for equipment and stock. If you store equipment and stock on the premises, ensure that it is kept safe from flood water by installing racking to keep it off the ground.
Raw materials and finished products. If you keep a stock of raw materials and/or finished products, you may want to consider how much is stored and how long for. Reducing the amount of stock stored on the premises will reduce the chance of it getting damaged should a flood occur.

When making your business more resilient to flooding, check that you have covered everything on our property flood resilience checklist here, to ensure you are as prepared as possible for a future flood event.

FACT: Did you know that the average cost of flooding to a business is £82,000? – Environment Agency

Flood Insurance

It may be more difficult for businesses to obtain flood insurance than for households, as businesses are not eligible to find insurance through the Flood Re scheme. It is important that you ensure the business is not under insured, particularly with contents cover for expensive equipment or machinery, as the insurance should cover the cost to replace items new and not the current value of the items at the time of taking out the insurance.

Making flood insurance more accessible

Planning and preparing for a potential flood, and carrying out actions to reduce the impacts of a flood event may make it easier for your property to be accepted by insurers. This may include carrying out a property level flood survey and installing property flood resilience (PFR) measures. The insurance company may recognise that you are taking steps to minimise the potential damage which could be caused by a flood.

Tailored policy through a broker

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has launched a commercial insurance scheme for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and landlords to find suitable flood insurance. Their ‘Find a Broker’ service can help you to find and contact a specialist broker to help you get commercial flood insurance cover.

Flood excess insurance

Another option is to consider taking out an additional insurance policy to cover the excess value on the primary policy, so that if you ever need to make a claim on the primary policy, the cost of the excess is covered by the additional policy.

For example, commercial insurance policies with flood cover may have a flood excess costing thousands of pounds, which is unlikely to be affordable for many SMEs. While the cost of an additional excess insurance policy does mean extra financial outlay, it will help to make flood cover accessible to many SMEs.

Parametric insurance

A further option is parametric insurance which works differently to traditional insurance policies as there is no excess or loss adjuster, just a fixed lump sum pay out. The policy holder sets the flood depth at which a claim is triggered (min. 200mm) as well as the settlement amount payable in the event of a claim (max. £5million), regardless of the loss or damage sustained. There is also the option of a multi-trigger policy. A flood depth sensor is installed on the external face of the premises which relays real-time data, and when the trigger point is reached the claim is automatically paid.

Self insure

As a last option, businesses that find it hard to take out insurance through an insurance company due to high cost premiums could self insure. This works by the business setting aside money which would otherwise be used for flood insurance premiums to be used either to make the business more resilient to flooding, or as a pot of money which could be used for recovery after a flood. However, there are risks that the business may flood multiple times within a short space of time or that the extent of flooding and damages are much worse than anticipated which could make this insurance strategy risky.

An example of where self insuring may be suitable is when a business faces very high premiums or an unaffordable excess, but the potential damages are small enough to be able to recover from without the help of an insurance claim. For instance, the stock may be low value or equipment may be easily replaced.

Insurance for rented premises

Only a landlord can insure the building itself, so if your business premises is rented you will only be required to take out contents insurance for the business. It is important that the business is not under insured for its contents, particularly if it has stock or equipment of high value. You may also want to consider loss of earnings cover and business interruption insurance.

For an overview of business flood insurance options, download our resource here.

For information on how to deal with flood insurance when flooding has occurred, see our ‘Handling Insurance’ section here.

Report

Reporting flooding is critical in ensuring that risk management authorities (RMAs) are aware of problems and can deal with incidents effectively. It is important that you know who to report the different types of flooding to, and continue to report each incident to allow RMAs to collate data to keep track of the overall picture of flooding in that area.

If you have experienced flooding, it is very important to report it directly to the relevant authority as early as possible. We do not process any flood reporting on this website, please see below for who to contact.

Public drains and flooded roads

Contact your Highways Authority (County Council or Unitary Authority), they will clear blocked public drains. Click here to find the website for your local council.

Ordinary watercourses

Flooding to ordinary watercourses such as streams or culverts should be reported to your Lead Local Flood Authority, which will either be your District Council (providing it is a Unitary Authority) or County Council. Click here to find the website for your local council.

Groundwater flooding

Report groundwater flooding to your Lead Local Flood Authority, which will either be your District Council (providing it is a Unitary Authority) or County Council. Click here to find the website for your local council.

Sewer flooding

Contact United Utilities on 03456 723 723 or visit their website here to report overflowing sewers that are affecting your business premises.

Blocked drains and burst water mains

Contact your local water company, which is United Utilities if your business is in the North West. For blocked drains visit their website here, or for burst water mains, visit their website here. Alternatively you can call 03456 723 723.

Rivers and the sea

Call the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 807 060 or visit this webpage to report:

Flooding from the sea or a main river.
A blockage, for example caused by a fallen tree.
Collapsed or badly damaged river or canal banks.
Unusual changes in river flow.

Contact the Unitary Authority or County Council to report flooding from other watercourses. Click here to find the website for your local council.

Private drains

Floods caused by private drains are the responsibility of the property owner.

To download this resource on ‘The Importance of Reporting Flooding’ click here.

To download the ‘Who’s responsible for Managing Flood Risk?’ resource click here.

The Flood Hub