2. Risk Management,  Auto & Property Casualty Insurance

Disaster Planning for Home & Business

    Prepare Your Home and Business for Disaster
  1. Get serious about an Emergency Kit for you  home and office
  2. Your business will not survive without a Contingency Plan
  3. A Financial Plan is the essential last step

Emergency Kit

  • House or office may be dangerous or impossible to enter
  • It is likely there will be NO outside help for 3 to 7 days
  • Three to seven days of supplies are essential
    • Water, food (no cooking)
    • Clothes, shoes, rain protection, sleeping gear
    • Medicines, radios, flashlights, batteries, some cash, etc.
    • Special needs for babies, elder people, pets
    • Have a family contact plan and practice/ update it every quarter

Contingency Plan

  • Up to 80% of small businesses disappear in a major crisis if there’s no plan
  • Backup or copies of data, project details, equipment and supply inventories
  • Contact information for employees, vendors, clients, etc.
  • Consider needs to shelter in place, transportation back to homes, families’ safety
  • Create a team with assigned responsibilities to handle basic business, employee and customer needs, access to all information/ equipment/ supplies/ cash/ etc.
  • Specific plans will depend on your business type and needs
    • Can all employees work from home?
    • Will you need an alternate, temporary site?
      • Find a realtor who can help list available sites;
      • Consider a competitor’s premises in another area

Financial Plan

  • Your business and your family will need money or access to funds to weather the recovery period
    • LOC
    • HELOC
    • Stash of cash – small bills and accessible
    • Consider insurance coverage options
      • EQ on your home
        • Check with broker or agent: CEA, Geo-Vera
        • Coverage is expensive and limited and deductibles are high
        • Building, minimal contents and additional living expense
    • Business EQ coverage
      • Full coverage can be expensive and deductibles are high
      • EQSL might be a minimal alternative
      • Prevention steps as an alternative to insurance
        • Prevent collapse – various retrofit projects
        • Prevent fire from inside; prepare for fire from outside
        • Consider parking a car outside the garage for easy access

-Charles Wilson, Risk Smart Solutions