Business Document Recovery After a Fire or Flood

Running your Montana-based business requires a lot of organization and planning, from checking inventory, managing a budget, and educating your staff on proper business etiquette and safety. Unfortunately, despite all of the emergency planning management, training, and safeguarding you may do, protecting vital documents from water damage, fire damage, or theft may be the last thing on your mind.

Natural disaster research presented by Montana.gov shows that earthquakes, floods, and winter storms may hit the state more and more often. So what does that mean for you and your business? Despite following OSHA’s rules and regulations for keeping your employees safe during a natural disaster, it helps if you’re prepared and have your vital documents locked up in a fireproof, waterproof area. However, if you weren’t able to prepare in time, and didn’t have your original documents locked up in a safe deposit box or fireproof safe, follow these tips to replace your important paperwork.

Make a List of Lost Documents

It’s helpful to list out every document you need to replace. This way, you can take it one step at a time when replacing each one. In the moment, it might be stressful to remember everything you might have lost. To help ease your mind, here is a starter list:

• Annual tax returns
• Property records
• Medical information
• Estate planning documents
• Rental agreements
• W-2s
• Insurance policies
• Financial records
• Personal address book
• Account and contact information of clients
• Fingerprint or dental records
• Vital documents, like passports, birth certificates, social security cards, or vaccination records for people and pets

Who You Gonna Call?

There are so many papers that could have been damaged or destroyed in a fire or flood, from tax returns to real estate and property records, it good to know how to contact your resources for replacing them all. Use FEMA’s Lost or Damaged Documents Phone List to get you started. If this list doesn’t contain a number, contact your local courthouse or city clerk for more information.

Currency Redemption

Don’t forget about claiming your cash! Paper currency is also considered an important document. Cash that was mutilated, damaged, or destroyed so that it’s currently in an unusable state can be claimed and traded in to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Replacing your business’s cash can definitely help your bottom line–especially on top of the cost of repairing or replacing other parts of your business that have been damaged. Check with your insurance company to see if they can help you with your mutilated currency redemption claim.

Let Our Fire Restoration Company Do the Work for You

Alpha Omega is a fully certified restoration company serving Billings, MT and the surrounding areas.When repairing the damage after a business fire, you want to have the restoration company do all the work so that it is done correctly without the possibility of further problems creeping up in the future.  Alpha Omega Disaster Restoration is a full general contractor with those appropriate certifications. Call Alpha Omega Disaster Restoration for a inspection and assessment of your fire damage.

Our crew is on call 24/7 . We’ll come to assess the situation, document the damage, and then we will work with your insurance adjuster to provide you the fastest and best fire restoration possible. With our help, you can focus on your family and relationships, leaving us to worry about the restoration process. When we are done, all traces of the destruction will be gone, leaving you with a safe and comfortable home.