Mother nature was at her best this week by dumping more than five inches of rain in the Chicagoland area at a rapid pace. So quickly that in under two hours many homeowners
found themselves in two feet of water. For many residents of the western suburbs, this has become an annual event. This time, however, police had boats on hand to rescue people from their own homes.
So why would a technology company help?
Because now that we can make everything electronic, you can minimize the impact of a flood. Here are a few ways that you can sleep better at night while listening to the sound of your busy sump pump.
BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP – We just cannot stress this enough. In a digital age where more and more companies are going paperless, both businesses and homeowners should be doing daily backups. We recommend backing up to an offsite location so that even if disaster strikes locally, your data and photos are safe.
Take photos of everything in your home when you purchase it and annually so you can prove normal wear and tear versus damage.
Take photos of the damage immediately, even if the adjuster will not be able to visit you for a week. – Many times a large area is hit with disaster and it could be more than most insurance companies can handle at one time immediately. Take photos with your digital camera or smart phone and store them for when the adjuster arrives or email them directly to your insurance company.
Create electronic copies of the receipts of items that would need to be replaced – Usually it is easier to just throw receipts into a box then you can dig through them when you need them. However, we recommend scanning them in twice a year. The best time would be around the change of daylight savings time in Spring and Fall. Unless you had a major renovation ,for instance, an addition or complete kitchen remodel, this total time for scanning twice a year should be minimal. If you do have a renovation, scan receipts as the project continues rather than being left with hundreds of receipts and a large pile to get through.
If you would like recommendations on how to do this for your small business, give us a call at 630.516-1207 or visit our new maintenance program page to learn how we can do it all for you.