It's also important to understand the covered perils and sublimits in your policy:

Covered perils: Meet with a professional broker to determine covered perils and assess the level of coverage for wind, storm and flood. Consider expanding the policy to include some level of coverage for perils that may not be that common in your geographic region in order to be prepared for atypical events.

Sublimits: A sublimit is part of, rather than in addition to, the limit that would otherwise apply to the loss. In other words, it places a maximum on the amount available to pay that type of loss. For example, under a commercial property policy with a $200 million blanket limit applicable to loss from all other causes, there may be a $100,000 sublimit on coverage for loss from flood, a $500,000 sublimit on loss from earthquake, and a debris removal sublimit of 25% of the direct-damage loss amount. It is critical that you understand what the sublimit is for evacuation response expenses, business interruption and remediation. Similarly, deductible levels vary for certain losses from natural disasters (such as flood, earthquake or wind) and can be misunderstood and costly following a loss.

Be aware of what your insurance policy excludes — including the breadth of those exclusions. A "flood" exclusion is much less broad than a "water" exclusion, and those differences can change your recovery costs by dramatic amounts. Also, consider the following:

1. Are you eligible for National Flood Insurance Program coverage? If so, do you have it specifically for each building?
2. Is your "extra expense limit" part of the blanket limit or part of the stand-alone limit?
3. Does your policy make you subject to proportional spending of the extra expense limit over specified time periods, or do you have access to the whole amount up front?

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