Small businesses in Lancaster were hit hardest by the recent floods in the North West and Scotland, according to business insurer, Simply Business.
Simply Business said small businesses in the North West accounted for 59% of flood related claims made since the start of December. Over a third (36%) of claims made in the region were made by Lancaster businesses, compared with Carlisle (19%) and Blackburn (17%).
Since 4 December, the UK has been hit by three storms; Desmond, Eva and Frank, with accountancy giant PwC estimated the total bill will be in the region of £1.5 billion. Simply Business said claims data revealed that Storm Desmond was the most impactful storm, accounting for more than half of the claims registered (65%), followed by Storm Eva (27%) and Storm Frank (6%).
While flooding was, and continues to be, a major concern across the UK, the majority of claims from smaller businesses were for storm damage (66%) compared to one third of claims made for flood damage (33%).
Jason Stockwood CEO of Simply Business, said: “The storms over the past two months have been truly devastating for microbusinesses and SMEs in the North. Compared to large businesses, SMEs have so much more to lose when a natural disaster strikes. For them, it’s not simply a flooded shop floor or a smashed window – but potentially months and months of lost revenue, which over the Christmas period can be so much more damaging."
