2020 has been a record year for natural disasters in America, toppling 2005 as the one with the most named storms on record at 30. 

And that’s just hurricanes and tropical storms, which doesn’t include tornados, hail, flooding or wildfires. 

Unfortunately, natural disasters are part of our lives and they are not going to disappear anytime soon.

We must do what we can to plan ahead in case disaster strikes. Here are three simple steps to help protect your business from natural disasters going forward.

Step 1: Touch base with your agent on insurance coverage.

Discussing commercial insurance coverage with your agent is the number one way to help protect your business from natural disasters. Your agent will be able to help you determine if you’re missing coverage or if there’s a new insurance product that’s come out in recent years that could give you better peace of mind. Always start with your insurance agent. 

Want to connect with a knowledgeable UFG agent? Use our nifty find an agent tool to contact your local UFG agent.

Step 2: Educate employees and make a disaster plan.

Making a post-disaster plan should be a priority. Emotions may be hard to control after a disaster, but having a plan in place will help put the pieces together as soon as possible. 

Also, it’s important to consider an emergency plan prior to a disaster hitting. Posting evacuation routes throughout the structure or posting signs as to where best to shelter inside of the building when a storm hits lets employees know you care and you’re doing your best to protect against the worst. Other aspects of emergency response to consider:

• Provide easily accessible survival kits on every floor of your building.
• Invest in a generator in case you lose power and test it regularly. 
• Make sure your building is up to code and all necessary maintenance has been completed. 

An important part of education falls in the hands of our risk control department. They discuss business continuity plans with all accounts to ensure that ongoing operations can continue following a disaster and related recovery efforts. Of course, natural disasters are dependent upon geographic area, but our risk control team can help you create and implement an emergency preparedness program that fits your business. 

Pre-planning for emergencies can help protect your business from natural disasters in the long run.

Step 3: Ensure business data is protected.

A few questions to consider:

• Is your data on paper or digital?
• If digital, is it regularly backed up with an offsite location or in the cloud?

• Can you confidently say that your customer data will be protected from a complete loss?

A cybersecurity data breach is one thing, but ensuring your business data is backed up or protected against a loss is another.  We are more connected with technology today than ever before and our data is truly invaluable. As an insurance carrier, we’re here to provide flexible cyber coverage that gives you coverage for data loss as well as more specialized coverages like funds transfer fraud protection. 

Reach out to a UFG agent today if you need to discuss internet security and privacy (ISAP) coverage, online banking theft (OBT) protection and more.

Checking boxes and preparing ahead of time can have a significant impact on your operation going forward should disaster strike. Contact us if you have any further questions about insurance coverage needs.