Stay in close contact with your in-house insurance and operations team leadership, your broker's claims advocates, and insurers and establish a framework and protocols for gathering information and filing a claim once the storm passes.

Secure property

Prior to and after the storm, you should take actions to minimize dangers to and on your property. For example, you should remove standing waters to reduce the risk of ground or structural collapses, disconnect equipment in the event of a power outage, and safely remove any dangerous materials, debris, and wildlife or chemicals brought in by floodwaters.

Document losses

Pre-storm planning will help you be ready to file a potential insurance claim immediately afterward. Be prepared to:

• Document property damage, including verbal communications, immediately to avoid loss of information due to memory loss or employees leaving the company. Gather photo or video evidence without jeopardizing employee safety, including using drones or other aerial surveillance.
• Gather relevant records, including inventory, payroll, purchase orders, and business operations.
• Keep track of service interruptions, noting the time, location, and reason for any interruption.
• Raise potential coverage questions and dispute issues early with your insurer's claims team.
• Capture financial losses. A best practice is to create a new ledger to track all loss-related expenditures and use a unique accounting code to capture recovery-related labor costs.

Hurricane Lane could pose a major challenge to your business interests in Hawaii. But being prepared can help you better protect your operations and employees and aid in your recovery after the storm.