Chubb Launches an Interactive Business Recovery Planning Guide at RIMS Conf.

The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has developed a Business Recovery Planning Guide to help companies create a comprehensive, site-specific business recovery plan.

This interactive guide is available on CD-ROM and features editable questionnaires and checklists to help companies analyze their current exposures and develop a business recovery plan for their operations. The guide is free of charge to all businesses and will be available at the Risk & Insurance Management Society’s Annual Conference in Chicago.

“A business recovery plan is essential for every business,” said Jimmy Deaderick, managing director, Chubb & Son, and worldwide loss control manager, Chubb Commercial Insurance. “Yet, many businesses remain unprepared and, consequently, may find themselves out-of-business should a disaster or catastrophe occur.

“We have found that most businesses see the value in business recovery planning, but may not have the resources to either hire a consultant or develop their own plan,” continued Deaderick. “Our guide is available to any business that wants to develop a recovery plan to help protect its employees, physical assets, revenue and reputation. And because it’s available on a CD-ROM, rather than online, this information remains proprietary – companies don’t have to worry about a third-party viewing or using their data.”

Chubb’s Business Recovery Planning Guide helps companies of all sizes by encouraging them to think about what can happen and plan for the “what ifs.” The guide outlines the three components of business recovery planning: disaster preparation, emergency response and business continuation. The CD-ROM format offers planning considerations as well as interactive questionnaires and checklists that can be completed and saved for future reference.

The first step a company should take to survive a catastrophe is disaster preparedness planning. Many companies may be faced with a natural or man-made disaster such as a fire, hurricane, technological emergency or hazardous materials incident. Through disaster preparedness planning, a company assesses the hazards it may face and takes steps to reduce or eliminate them.

“We have noted that many companies do not have in place an emergency notification process or an established secondary location should the primary facility become uninhabitable,” said Deaderick. “The emergency response planning section of Chubb’s guide raises awareness and the need to address these and other issues.”

Once a business has activated its emergency response plan, evacuated staff safely and has a disaster under control, it must begin the process of recovering from that disaster. “While many businesses purchase business income and extra expense insurance to assist in getting the facility up and running, this isn’t enough,” said Deaderick. “A business continuation plan is vital in determining how best to use insurance dollars and human resources following a disaster. Chubb’s Business Recovery Planning Guide will help businesses develop this final element into a comprehensive business recovery plan.”