No matter which type of business you own, getting it properly insured should be your first priority. There are a number of insurance options available these days that not only insure your monetary losses arising out of the due course of business, but you can also get your business insured in the events of natural disasters.
If you are wondering whether you need to go for flood insurance for your business or not, here is a list of some important factors that will help you in taking the right decision along with ideas where to buy flood insurance:-
- Your business needs flood insurance if it is located in a highly flood-prone area. However, most of the flood insurance policies cover any damage caused to your business premises or its contents due to water overflowing from rivers or streams, heavy and continuous rainfall, storm, melting of snow, broken dams and more. So, you can even go for this insurance if your business is in an area close to a water body, in the region of snow or is situated in a place that experiences heavy rainfall. If your business is not situated in any of these areas, you do not have to spend money unnecessarily on flood insurance for your business.
- If your business is situated in a flood zone as prescribed by your government authorities, going for flood insurance becomes quite obvious for you.
- Most of these insurance policies clearly define the terms “substantial damage” and loss of a “repetitive structure”. This ensures that there is no confusion when you are taking claims at the time of the damage caused due to flood. Also, it is important to read the terms and conditions carefully while choosing an insurance option to choose a good policy.
- The loss in productivity and sales is usually not covered by a flood insurance policy as it mainly revolves around the physical damage. So, you can skip going for this policy if you want to ensure your business productivity and operations during the time of an emergency or a disaster. However, there are some insurance providers these days that offer coverage on business productivity as well, obviously at a higher cost. So, if you need it, you can avail it from special insurance providers.
- Like every other insurance policy, this one also requires renewal. Therefore, make sure that you are making the payment for the renewal on time so that you do not have to pay any additional charges or face a huge financial loss if the policy has already lapsed at the time of the flood. So, this policy is not a one-time investment and will expect a regular cost from you.
- If risk management and keeping a contingency fund has always been one of your business practices, you should go for this insurance if your business is located in a risky zone. However, if you believe that the risk is not too high and you have insured your business well through other policies, you can skip going for special insurance to cover your business against the damage of flood.
Factors determining the cost of the flood insurance policy
- The date on which the building was constructed
- Whether that zone is a flood zone or not. If yes, whether it was so before the building was constructed or was declared in recent times after the construction of the building was over.
- How is the building being used?
- The number of floors in the building
- Whether you are eligible for a premium discount or not
- The relative height of the lowest floor of the building with respect to the base flood level
