Advice to customers following the recent riots

In the light of the disturbances recently in London and other areas of the UK, many homes and businesses have been devastated through malicious damage, fire and thefts. If you have concerns that your property may be at risk the following advice should help minimise the risk of damage.

Being prepared

If you don’t have a business continuity plan in place and the events of the last few days have left you concerned with your business’ ability to deal with the aftermath of such an incident, there are some simple measures to ensure you can be back up and running as quickly as possible after being affected.

1. The safety of your employees and customers must be your priority.

2. Keep up-to-date with developments - consider using the internet, text news alerts and police information, responding to advice from the authorities as appropriate.

3. Make sure that you have suitable emergency plans and that these cover periods when riots and civil disorder are possible so that you can avoid such persons being on the premises or travelling to or from them during periods of danger. Ensure this is documented and kept up-to-date.

4. Identify and rank criticality those aspects of the various roles which need to be recovered and in what order.

5. Make certain staff contact details and details of service users and their families are up-to-date and stored in an accessible place other than your place of business and remember your Data Protection obligations.

6. Put together an up-to-date contact list of suppliers, professional service providers, utilities and emergency services. Again make sure this is stored off site but readily available.

7. For Care Homes, due to the specialist nature of your business, perhaps consider having a formal reciprocal agreement with other care providers in and around your area.

8. If your buildings are already fitted with security grilles or shutters, make sure that these are in working order and put into place when closing and leaving the premises. If you do not have shutters to protect vulnerable glazing then consider temporary boarding. Don’t forget that this will need to be very firmly secured.

9. Remove valuable items from display or which are close to ground floor windows. Put small high value items in your safe, if you have one. Consider what larger items may be safely removed during periods of unrest.

10. Make sure that you have two up-to-date copies of your computer data stored securely away from the premises.

11. Avoid leaving combustible or flammable items outside your premises.

Have you sustained loss/damage as a result of the riots?

In most cases, you will be covered by an insured event for material damage and business interruption (including denial of access) losses.

In respect of the insured event of Riot and Civil Commotion, the key elements for a riot to be declared are 12 or more persons being present, using or threatening the use of violence for a common purpose and in such a manner as to cause a person of sound mind and body to fear for their personal safety.

In the event of claim for Riot please follow the guidelines below:

• Wnsure there is a very prompt notification of the claim to the police. The Riot and Damages Act requires notification to the Police within the first 14 days of the event.
• Obtain a crime reference number and inform the police you intend to make a claim against them for the cost of any loss or damage under the Act.
• Having reported the matter to the police, it is important to notify us on 020 8336 0099 of any possible claim as soon as possible.
• Secure your premises safely and make sure they are adequately protected and remember that if you have been unfortunate enough to suffer a loss, you may be asked to give a statement to the investigating loss adjuster and offer any CCTV evidence to support a claim.

Maintaining adequate sums insured

Whilst rioting may have calmed down in certain areas, the risk is that destructive behaviour may continue in pockets around the UK for some time, so we would advise you check your sums insured are adequate and Business Interruption indemnity periods.

Of course Towergate Patrick hopes you have not been affected by the recent events. However if you have, we are here to help you. Please contact us on 020 8336 0099 or via email at carehomes@towergate.co.uk