A fire in your commercial building is a life-changing event. Whether you decide to start your business back up or move on after a fire depends largely on the steps you take during the recovery process. Follow these tips to improve the chances of reopening your business after a fire.
Document Your Losses
Ensuring financial assistance from your insurance company is the most critical part of recovering from a fire. As soon as the fire department gives the all-clear to enter the damaged building, go inside and take pictures or videos to show your insurance adjuster. Do this before you throw away ruined items or attempt to restore anything.
Next, make sure you keep track of receipts, credit card statements, and other proofs of payment to document the expenses you incur during the fire restoration process. You may need to wait until an investigation is completed before your insurance claim goes through, so be vigilant about holding onto your documented losses until the appropriate time.
Contact Your Insurance Company & All Affected Parties
Your insurance agent is the first person you should call after assessing the condition of your fire-damaged building. Your prompt action may help you avoid missing deadlines or dealing with delays.
If you rent or lease the space, your next call should be to the building owner or property manager to report the incident. You’ll also need to reach out to anyone affected by the fire, including employees, board members, partners, vendors, suppliers, and in some cases, customers. If activities need to be rescheduled or canceled, communicate this information. While the future of your business may be uncertain, it’s essential to get your valuable employees, partners, and customers on the same page.
Then, you’ll need to provide the post office with a temporary forwarding address for mailing your letters and packages. It’s also wise to explain what’s happened to your credit card companies, banks, and other institutions with which you conduct business.
Mitigate Further Building Damage
It’s likely your building’s exterior doors, windows, walls, and roof suffered damage in the fire, leaving the property exposed to the elements and vandals. Your insurance company may require you to pursue tarp and board-up services to mitigate further damage.
It’s also wise to call your gas and electric providers to have these utilities shut off until further notice. This eliminates the possibility of an explosion or electrocution until the building has been fully cleared of hazards.
Work with a Data Recovery Expert
Depending on the type of business you operate, you may store sensitive or operation-critical data on hard drives, servers, and personal computers. If your equipment was damaged in a fire, you might need help from a data recovery specialist to restore as many files as possible. You can also learn steps to mitigate your electronic data losses in the event of another fire in the future.
Begin the Fire Recovery Process
It can be tempting to rush into the recovery process, but it’s important to select a fire damage restoration company that has the expertise to help you get back on your feet. A combination of quick, thorough services and open communication are necessary if you hope to reopen your doors at the same location.
Let Clean MD perform fire restoration for your Erie County business. We’ll make sure the building is inhabitable by performing thorough soot removal, deodorization, smoke damage restoration, fire damage carpet cleaning, and more. We’ll also communicate with your insurance company to keep this element of your recovery as stress-free as possible.
For reliable fire restoration services in the Buffalo metro area, please contact us today.