Following Part One and the publication of the ABI’s Guidance After Rioting, It is assumed in this instance that you have insurance – what am I covered for? Any damage to your home or business as a result of riot, violent protest or civil disorder is covered as standard under most household or cheap business property insurance policies. Your buildings insurance will cover you for any damage or destruction to the structure of your home or business. This includes (but not necessarily limited to) the building structure (the roof, walls and windows); any permanent fittings and fixtures such as fitted kitchen units and bathroom suites; and carpets and wallpaper. Building insurance doesn’t cover any of your home or business contents – for this you need cheap contents insurance which can be bought separately or as a combined package and includes cheap public liability insurance in some cases too. Home and business contents insurance covers the cost of replacing your possessions if they are damaged, destroyed or stolen as a result of looting. Importantly, it must be remembered that if bought separately your buildings insurance and contents insurance may be with different insurers and differing excesses and of course both will need to be contacted to make a claim. Check your policy but If you have to move out of your home as a result of the damage your insurer will usually offer to provide or pay for the cost of appropriate alternative accommodation. If you are a business owner with the appropriate business interruption insurance, your insurer will cover for loss of income for a given period of time in which you cannot carry on business as usual in your premises. If your property is particularly badly damaged, perhaps as a result of fire, it may take a long time for the building to be restored and become habitable again in which case your insurer or their appointed loss adjuster will do everything possible to restore your property as swiftly as possible knowing that this is a stressful time and will keep in regular contact with you to discuss progress. There may be specialists needed to ensure your property is repaired to the standard before any loss including building surveyors, professional builders, loss adjusters and painters/decorators. Invariably, for complex claims, the whole process can take a long time. If there is a total loss and the property needs to be demolished your local authority should need to be involved to reinstate the property because of potential requirements under building regulations and/or planning permission.

So, I have insurance – what should I do? In the first instance immediately contact your insurer as soon as possible if your home, business or possessions have been damaged. Most insurers have a 24-hour helpline. Remember, f you have separate buildings and contents insurers, contact them both. If you rent your home, contact the property owner as they are likely to need to contact their cheap landlords insurance policy for repairing any damage to the building. Your insurer’s entire claims process is designed to provide you with all the support you need. Insurers are experienced at dealing with claims during emergencies and really come into their own in incidents such as riot, major floods or severe winter weather. They will ask you some simple questions to establish the nature of the loss and your details before advising on next steps. They are also likely to discuss with you whether you will require alternative accommodation. As many claims are made in emergency situations, your insurer is likely to seek information to determine if you need priority attention, such as if you are disabled, elderly or have young children. Business owners should have a clear and accurate record of your stock/accounts so that you can provide evidence of any loss. In business hours, remove excess cash to a safe and consider what security measures are required to secure your stock. Business Interruption Insurance will cover you for any periods when you cannot do business as normal because of damage to your property. This does not always form standard cover and sometimes needs to be added when you buy buildings and contents insurance for your premises. You should keep business accounts up to date so that your insurer can more easily assess a potential shortfall in profit. Specialist broker advice is always recommended such as Grafton Insurance Risk Solutions who will provide expert tailored advice for your business. You should always consider which contingency plans you can put in place to minimise business interruption following an unexpected event that causes you to stop trading. In some cases, particularly if your home, business or possessions are badly damaged, insurers will appoint a loss adjuster to handle the claim. Loss assessors are experts in assessing the loss or amount of damage and they will contact you to visit your home/business and oversee the restoration as soon as possible. If your damage is relatively minor, your insurer willable to handle your claim without such a detailed assessment of the loss. The complex nature of riot incidents dictates it may be difficult for insurers or loss adjusters to enter certain areas because they are obviously crime scenes. This may cause some delays initially in assessing what losses have occurred so patience is required. Insurance companies work closely with police to ensure that any appropriate action is taken and will keep you informed if there are any difficulties delaying the loss assessment.