18 | Bed & Breakfast News | Summer 2019
INSURANCE
Two thirds
of UK B&Bs
suffer business
disruption
• Two thirds (63%) of B&Bs have
experienced business disruption in the
last 12 months
• Almost half of B&Bs have had guests
damage rooms
• Water damage from flooding is the
most expensive issue to fix, with
repairs costing an average of £28,000
• The average B&B would need to close
its doors after just five months if
damage prevented them from housing
guests
New research from Direct Line for
Business1 reveals nearly two thirds (63%)
of UK Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) and
guest houses have experienced business
disruption. The average cost to the
business as a result of this disruption was
£3,985, of which £3,276 was spent fixing
the problems with a further £709 written
off through loss of revenue.
The most common type of disruption
faced by UK B&Bs and guest houses is as
a result of visitors damaging a bedroom,
an issue which has affected almost half
(45%) of establishments surveyed. This
is followed by water damage from burst
pipes and broken or damaged boilers,
both of which have affected a quarter
(24%) of B&B owners.
Business disruption is costing B&B
businesses significant revenues, along
with the cost of repairs there is the loss of
earnings as rooms can be out of action for
some time. The most expensive issue to
deal with is water damage from flooding
which costs approximately £28,000 to
fix. This includes the cost of resolving
the problem (£22,700) and lost revenues
(£5,339) while the premises is out of
action. The disruption caused by flooding
can last an average of 70 days before it is
resolved.
The second most expensive issue to fix is
a leaking roof, costing B&B owners over
£9,000 and causing on average 66 days
of disruption. Water damage from burst
pipes also causes severe problems, costing
on average £5,700, with around 17 days of
disruption.
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