Protect your business premises from flooding

You cannot stop a flood completely, but you can cut the water that gets in, the damage it does and the time it takes to reopen. Work through the same steps whether you own your premises or rent them, and agree any structural change with your landlord first.

Check your flood risk

Flooding is not only a risk beside rivers and the sea: surface water and groundwater can flood premises that are nowhere near either. Use the government's long-term flood risk service to see the risk from rivers, the sea, surface water, reservoirs and groundwater where data exists. It describes an area, not the chance that your own building floods, and it does not cover blocked drains or burst pipes, so walk the premises too and note what would be damaged first.

Sign up for flood warnings from the Environment Agency. The service is free and warns you by phone, text or email, but it cannot warn you about surface water flooding, so keep an eye on the forecast as well.

Reduce what a flood can do

Two kinds of measure work together. Resistance measures slow or block water at the building's edge, and resilience measures limit the damage and speed recovery when water gets in anyway. Nothing stops water completely, so use both.

Work that affects the flow of a river, or diverts flood water, may need permission, and you can be prosecuted if you do it without. If you own premises beside a watercourse you must also keep its bed and banks maintained and not obstruct the flow.

Write a flood plan

Write the plan before you need it and keep it somewhere accessible and away from flood water. Government guidance suggests including:

• the trigger points that start action, such as water in the car park, what you do at each and what changes if the flood worsens;
• where the gas, electricity and water shut-off points are, and details of any emergency power source;
• emergency routes, evacuation points and any security you need to put in place;
• how you will protect hazardous or refrigerated materials, customer and staff records and important documents;
• the people responsible for running the response, a list of contacts for your landlord, insurer, utilities and suppliers, and out-of-hours contact details for staff;
• a note of any staff who will need help, and the training your team needs for their roles.

Agree contingency arrangements with your main suppliers and customers, and check that flood barriers and warning systems work before the wet season.

Insure against flooding

Check that your insurance covers flood damage to the buildings if you are responsible for them, to your contents including stock, and to your running costs and lost revenue while you cannot trade. Flood Re, the scheme that keeps flood cover affordable, is for homes, so for your business you must buy cover on the open market. The National Flood Forum advises small businesses on insurance, and a broker who specialises in flood risk can find cover for hard-to-insure premises.

If your insurer asks for evidence of your flood risk, the Environment Agency will send you a free letter within 20 days. After you have made improvements, a Flood Risk Report shows insurers how much the work has reduced your risk.