As we sit comfortably in the Autumn season, with Winter just around the corner, it’s a good time to ensure that your business is protected against adverse weather conditions. 

Adverse weather can affect all aspects of your business. From the property itself, to the stock or even loss of earnings from being unable to trade. Therefore, it’s essential to protect as much of your business as possible. Insurance products can help you to do this.

Types of insurance cover

There are insurance products on the market to cover your business against such things.

Business property insurance – This generally covers your business against most adverse weather related damage to your property

Business contents insurance – Typically covering equipment, furniture and other business contents from the aftereffects of adverse weather damage

Business interruption insurance – Covers some, if not all of the loss of earnings faced due to adverse weather related incidents

There are other specific insurance products to protect your business in different ways, however these are the main ones most consider when arranging insurance policies.

Important considerations

It’s good to check on the insurance policies what is considered as ‘adverse weather’ and to what extent that you are covered. You may wish to choose a different policy or upgrade/downgrade the cover to suit your business needs.

Also don’t forget to read the small print. This could be the difference between a claim being accepted or not. It’s always a good idea to ensure that you meet the specific criteria to use the policy just in case you are unfortunate enough to need to.

Finally, if you choose not to use your insurance to resolve the damage to your building or contents, you can choose to use a professional restoration company such as ServiceMaster Restore. Call us in an emergency on 0845 762 6828.

A disaster is an unfortunate event in any situation, but even worse if you don’t have a plan in place to reduce the damage or  overcome it. Most businesses will have a document that outlines exactly what needs to be done following on from a disaster, or even identifying actions to be made before a disaster happens. This is called a Disaster Recovery Plan.

A Disaster Recovery Plan is essential to ensure continuity in your business following on from a disaster. Here are some considerations for your own:

Consider the risks/possible disasters as a result 

There are many disasters that can affect a business, but not all of them will be relevant to your own. Here consider what disasters would be detrimental to your particular business.

Assess the risks 

Conducting a risk assessment will help you to decide what risks are imminent and what risks pose the largest threat.

Decide on the recovery objectives 

What do you want to be achieved from following the plan? Reduction of loss? Total avoidance? Recovery of items?

Tools, techniques and resources

What and who do you need to carry out your plan? You may wish to include the contact details of a Disaster Recovery specialist such as ourselves, ServiceMaster Restore.

Document your plan

Write down in detail all aspects of the plan. It needs to be clear so that anyone can interpret it and follow it correctly.

Test your plan

If you are able to play out a ‘dress rehearsal’, it’s a good idea to do so to be able to highlight any problems with the plan so that you can change them before you need to use it for real.

Display your plan

The plan needs to be somewhere that is visible in case of disaster. Having it displayed somewhere visible also provides peace of mind to those who use your premises that you have plans in place for if the worst happens.

We do hope that you never need to use your Disaster Recovery Plan, and if help from a specialist is required, you can count on us. Call 0845 762 6828 in an emergency.

 

We experienced a glorious spring and early summer, however, a bout of recent storms have got many of us thinking about the winter weather preparations we should be making. 

There are things that you can do to protect your property against the cold, wet and windy weather brought in the winter season.

Here are some winter weather preparations below: 

Avoid frozen pipes 

You should insulate pipes and water tanks to avoid them getting to freezing temperature. Insulation can be purchased from most DIY stores or fitted by a plumbing expert.

Don’t turn your heating off

If you are planning a winter break, it can be tempting to turn the heating off whilst you are away. Don’t! Instead you should keep the heating on at a low temperature or time it to come on intermittently.

Service your boiler 

Boiler health is so important as a faulty boiler could mean that you are left without heating in the winter months, or could cause flooding or your pipes to freeze. Speak to a plumber about servicing your boiler regularly.

Minimise draughts 

Consider purchasing draught excluders to minimise the draughts in your property. Some can be fitted to doors and windows, others can be easily placed in front of the draft entrance.

Plan for an emergency 

If you either lose your heating, water or perhaps your property floods, you need to be prepared. It’s a good idea to keep portable heaters, bottled water and have emergency supplies ready in case the worst happens.

We hope that the above winter weather preparations help you in the coming winter months to prepare for the winter weather. If however our help comes too late or just simply isn’t enough for the UK weather, you can reach out to our team for restoration help. Visit our flooding restoration page for further information.

Don’t forget if you need help with an escape of water, you can contact us as the experts on 0845 762 6828

Whilst a fire is the immediate danger, there are serious dangers of smoke too. 

Smoke is a collection of tiny unburned particles. These are unburned because there is incomplete combustion, as there is not enough oxygen to burn the fuel in it’s totality. All smoke contains carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which explains the dangers of smoke.

Inhaling carbon monoxide decreases the lungs capacity which in itself is extremely dangerous. However, when exposed to smoke, you could be inhaling much more, such as fine particles and other deadly gases which are given off from other fuel types (furniture, flooring, upholstery, woods, plastics, metals etc) when they are burning.

Once the fire is out, smoke can remain for a long time, particularly the damage it leaves behind on surfaces and in the air.

Restoration experts such as ServiceMaster Restore not only remove the smoke damage from all surfaces, but from the air too. 

As experts we would identify all of the areas that have been affected by smoke damage and then create a plan of action to remove all smoke damage before inviting you back in to the property once it is safe.

Our experts ensure that smoke damage is isolated and does not affect other areas of the property creating more damage or loss.

Any items that are beyond repair are removed and disposed of safely, smoke particles are lifted from the air and then thorough cleaning then can begin to remove the residues that have built up. Finally, deodorising then can neutralise the familiar smell of smoke.

Early intervention is the key to restoring a property back to it’s former glory post fire. 

Contact the Fire and Smoke Restoration Specialists on 0845 762 6828