NSInail systems international

In Fire, Fire – Part 1, I discussed my recent disaster in my apartment, which got me thinking about preparedness of salon owners in case of a fire.  What should you do to protect yourself and be informed and aware of exactly what kind of policy you need? 
Here are lists of things you may want to do as precautionary measure, before a disaster may occur:

1.       Read and understand your insurance policy, and if you don’t understand it, ask for a clear explanation.

2.       Read and understand your lease (if you are renting), and better yet, have an attorney translate it for you.

3.       Take photos and video everything and keep it off site.  Update as you make changes, and also every year.

4.       Back up critical business and personal information on an external hard drive, memory stick, or discs.  Also keep them offsite.  Be sure to include all your client contacts.

If you should experience a fire or disaster of another type:

1.       Call your insurance company to get your claim started.  Ask that they have the emergency on-call adjuster contact you ASAP.  Ask if you can contact a property damage expert or restoration company.

2.       If renting, pull a copy of your lease and contact your landlord.

3.       Document damage by taking pictures; lots of them!  Don’t exclude a thing even if it may appear to be undamaged.  In my case, there was soot and smoke damage that couldn’t be seen.  Anything that is plastic, particle board, or a similar man-made material, will look like it just needs to be wiped off, but it can discolor permanently.  If a fleck of ash fell on the floor, take a picture.  Even photograph the debris pile.  Save the pictures in two locations (like a computer and a memory stick).

4.       After consulting with your insurance company and landlord, call a private restoration company that specializes in fires.  You will be amazed at what they can do.  They come in like a swat team and literally start neutralizing and cleaning EVERYTHING in your place.  They will even wipe down each and every file folder, magazine, nick knack; EVERYTHING.

5.       Document all activities and expenses.  Keep a log with receipts for everything.

6.       Consider getting a private adjuster.  They will fight for you and not your insurance company.

7.       Once repairs can begin, hire your own experts to do the work.  If you don’t know any, ask your entire network of friends for referrals. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 9:20 am and is filed under Business Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.