Protecting your business from leaks and floods

According to insurance provider Aviva, 1 in 3 business properties are at risk of flooding, making them an incredibly common occurrence in the UK.

For many businesses, floods don’t always spring to mind immediately when considering contingency planning. Nevertheless, they have the power to disrupt and derail businesses from the ground up.

Office water damage is not just caused by flooding, but can also be due to burst water pipes, faulty sprinkler systems and blocked drains. Routine maintenance and checks of on-site water equipment can help to mitigate this, but there is always the potential for random leaks to occur, especially in extreme or adverse weather conditions.

If your business is at risk of flooding and leaks, keep reading to discover how to anticipate, plan for, and mitigate the effects of water damage for your business.

How disruptive are floods and leaks to businesses?

Floods and leaks can cause catastrophic damage to businesses financially. Small businesses are often the most affected, with 40% of smaller businesses closing permanently after experiencing water damage.

Financial losses are only one facet of the damage caused to businesses by water damage. Flooding and leaks can also cause employment losses, supply chain disruptions and lost revenue to name just a few.

For many businesses, having the reserves to cover such losses is not realistic. Even with excellent insurance policies, the downtime required for payouts and recovery from water damage can be enormously destabilising and even fatal for some companies.

How important is contingency planning?

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is fundamental for helping your business to recover quickly from a water related catastrophe.

According to The Guardian, in 2024, insurers paid out around £585 million for damage relating to storms and floods alone. With only 58% of smaller businesses having a BCP, this demonstrates the need for adequate planning and maintenance to ensure business continuity in the face of a crisis.

Proactive planning also helps to protect your company in the long term and improves resilience in the face of climate change, where more adverse weather is on the horizon for much of the UK.

Top tips for preventing and mitigating water damage

Although some flooding may be unavoidable and dependent on severe weather, there are ways to prevent water damage. For example, by maintaining external gutters and drainage systems, it is possible to prevent water ingress, or external damage to your premises from damp. Completing audits and checks can also put you in a good place to anticipate potential flooding

Additionally, consider installing water leak detection devices to monitor for any leaks and promote early detection. This prevents a leak causing serious and uncontrollable damage without the business owner’s knowledge.

Business owners can also follow the UK government’s business flood plan checklists to prepare and prevent the worst-case scenario. This enables companies to be as prepared as possible for every eventuality involving floods or leaks.

Other factors such as moving critical documentation and assets to higher ground when there is a risk of flooding can be fundamental to protecting the valuable parts of your business and safeguarding them from harm. Ensure that you have a solid evacuation plan for staff in the event of an emergency and that all employees are aware of the policies and procedures in place.

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