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How to Protect Your Business This Hurricane Season

Businesses are already looking ahead towards the summer as a time of growth and increased foot traffic, but it's also important to remember that we're also nearing the start of hurricane season. With tens of thousands of businesses across Texas and the Gulf Coast, it's essential to make preparations now to ensure your business faces minimal impact from any possible hurricanes, tropical storms, or heavy flooding in our region. Today's Aegis blog post focuses on some ways companies can better protect themselves before the start of hurricane season.

Review Business Insurance Portfolio

The simplest way to quickly protect businesses this hurricane season is by reviewing existing Commercial Insurance policies and adding or changing coverage amounts to ensure your business is fully protected. One of the most important kinds of policies for area businesses is Flood Insurance. It takes 30 days for Flood Insurance policies to take effect, so NOW is the time to enroll in Flood Insurance coverage if your business doesn't have it already. This policy alone can be a huge lifesaver for businesses in our region since it only takes an inch of standing water to cause thousands of dollars in damage to property, flooring, furniture, and equipment.

Businesses should also review their existing portfolio to ensure their Commercial Property policy covers any new assets or equipment, and to make sure they also have Business Interruption and Utility Disruption coverage, which are both critical after a hurricane. Having the right kind of insurance policies in place make it possible for businesses to repair and recover after a major loss, versus having to permanently close their business.

Make Property Improvements

Hurricane season officially begins June 1, but businesses can begin protecting their commercial property now to help reduce potential damages and losses from severe or even catastrophic weather events. For example, roofs can be inspected to ensure there are no leaks or damaged areas in need of repair, and overgrown trees can be pruned to reduce potential damages to the building. Also, property drainage is an important factor to help reduce flooding, so commercial property owners and managers should ensure that water drains efficiently from the property. This can include adding drainage areas, clearing gutters and other drain pipes, and making sure there is not any debris blocking nearby storm drains. Business owners should also take time to move important paperwork and other valuable property to higher locations inside their building.

Create Contingency Plans

Finally, businesses have a much better chance of fully recovering from hurricane or other storm damage much faster when they have contingency plans already in place before disaster strikes. For example, a business contingency plan might include worker evacuations plans when severe weather is imminent, and a temporary location available where work can be performed while any repairs are made on the main business property. In addition, contingency plans should also include contact information for vendors and suppliers in case of service disruptions, and a communication plan for reaching out to impacted customers and clients. Lastly, companies should make sure all electronics and network data are also backed up or available on a cloud-based server so all business-critical information is secure and accessible at any time and from any location.

Business owners work hard every day to grow and thrive, so it's devastating when a natural disaster or severe weather event threatens the future of a business owner and their employees. At Aegis Insurance & Financial Services, we're committed to partnering with businesses of all industries to get the business insurance protection needed to weather any kind of storm or disaster. Contact Aegis today at 713-850-7622 for more information, or fill out our online form to request a free quote!

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