As with homeowners insurance policies, many business owners don’t realize that their commercial property insurance doesn’t necessarily cover flooding.

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Suffering a flood can wipe out a business, because it’s not just a matter of replacing damaged equipment and repairing buildings, but also the sheer time it takes, during which the facilities can’t be used.

 

In some cases, flood insurance policies don’t take effect until after a 30-day waiting period, so it’s not smart to wait until heavy rain is forecasted in your business’ location.

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Additionally, it’s important to note that with commercial properties, sudden excessive rainfall isn’t necessarily the biggest flood risk. You must also factor in drains getting clogged, which can turn a normal rainfall or snow storm into an unexpected catastrophic event.

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As a business owner, you’ll need to look at both commercial flood insurance offered through the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and commercial flood insurance coverage from non-NFIP policies.

 

The two big advantages of non-NFIP policies are that they can pay out full replacement costs (whereas NFIP payments account for depreciation), and they can include coverage for loss of business during the rebuilding phase (loss of business is not covered by NFIP).

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Whether your business is located in an area of common flooding or not, commercial flood insurance is worth exploring. Contact our insurance experts, and we can help you get started.