Its human nature to presume the worst won’t happen to us or our businesses but the recent weather conditions across the UK have proved costly for many a small firm.

When disaster strikes the cause is often outside of your control, fire, flood or even a simple power outage leaves you at the mercy of suppliers or emergency services, who will therefore define the timescale of your business interruption. In the restaurant business a single power outage has the potential to cause crippling losses.

When the Portal Restaurant and Wine Bar, located in Smithfield, suffered a series of blackouts in the busy December period, it was forced to cancel bookings, turn away customers and throw away stock. It was then that Antonio Correia, The Portal’s owner, discovered first-hand the importance of ensuring you have the right cover.

He recounts: “When the power went down, it affected everything – our bookings system, till and ordering systems, fridges and computers – it was every restaurant owner’s worst operational nightmare.

“Although the energy company apologised for the interruption, which they informed us was due to a complex fault on the electricity network, we were told it was a matter we needed to take up with our insurance provider. However, when we contacted our provider, we were told that our policy had insufficient cover for such an event and that it was not possible to insure against power failures.”

Thankfully The Portal was able to overcome their misfortune. When Jelf were subsequently invited to review Antonio’s insurance we created a tailor-made policy that would cover The Portal should it have the misfortune of suffering power failures again.

Our top tips for business interruption planning

• Use a specialist – Using a specialist broker within your industry could not only mean substantial savings, but also increased cover. Due to their knowledge of your market a good broker can make you aware of the important areas that need insuring. By reviewing your policies you may also find that there are gaps in your existing policy that cost a minimal amount to insure but will save you thousands of pounds in the result of a claim occurring.
• Read the small print - Most restaurants will probably have business interruption insurance but it is important to check exactly what is covered. In the event of a power failure many policies insert a ’24 hour’ franchise excess preventing the restaurant from claiming for the first day of interruption. This may not be adequate, especially in the cities where if you have power failure even for just a few hours it can prevent a lunchtime or evening service.
• Conduct regular reviews – Once you have a plan in place to cope with business interruptions make sure you schedule regular reviews. You need to check that as your business grows and changes your plan still meets your needs.