Office Insurance and Disaster Recovery

Blog

Without the right office insurance cover, you could find yourself struggling to stay in business in the event of a natural disaster, or if you found yourself facing legal action from a client or aggrieved employee.  Here are some tips to make sure you have a good disaster recovery plan in place so that your business can keep trading, whatever happens.

Disaster Recovery Plan

  1. The first thing to do is to review your office insurance policy with your insurance broker to check exactly what you're covered for.  Bear in mind that you're considering your insurance cover in the event of a potential disaster.  Think about events like terrorist attacks, and look at what natural environmental catastrophes are possible in your area--for example flash floods or wildfires.  
  2. Make sure that you have a fireproof safe in which to keep all your insurance policies and other essential business documents.  This should be located off-site, preferably in a secure building like a bank or solicitor's office.  
  3. Put together and document a Business Continuity Plan.  This plan should incorporate provision for any event that could disrupt the day-to-day running of your business--for example a major fire or theft of company client data.  Make sure that you have a means of carrying on your business as normal, such as a temporary office in a different location, or a work-from-home policy for your staff.  Your office insurance policy should contain a provision for 'Increased Cost of Working' following an insured loss.  Review this sum to make sure it's been updated to cover any increased business running costs and temporary relocation expenses.  
  4. Make sure you have a policy in place for off-site data back-up of your customer and supplier records.  All this information should be backed-up and transmitted every day so that it's all safely accessible in the event of an operational disaster.  Remember to include emergency telephone contact details for all key operational personnel.  
  5. Review your office procedures for notifying employees that your office is temporarily closed, and make sure they all know what action they should take in the event of a disaster.  
  6. No matter what happens, it's essential that clients and suppliers can still contact you.  Make sure you have an alternative system in place should your main phone line become unusable.  An automatic call forwarding service to a company mobile or remote virtual assistant's line is a good strategy here.

In conclusion

When it comes to office insurance, make sure that your policy is fully comprehensive and covers all operational aspects necessary to keep your business up and running in the event of an unforeseen disaster.  Your business insurance broker will be able to go through your policy with you to make any amendments or additions that you require.

Share

16 December 2015

Supplementary Insurance Policies: Deciding What You Need

Hi, my name is Jennifer. I am a professional, a mother and a home owner. I also have insurance policies that affect all of those roles. I have coverage on my business, life insurance to protect my kids in the event anything happens to me and coverage on my home. I have found that the basics just don't provide the peace of mind and security that I need so I always buy supplemental policies. If you want to ensure that the people and things you love are protected from a financial standpoint, you may also need supplemental policies. This blog will explain what you need and how to know what you need. It will also have money saving tips. Enjoy!