Funding business recovery after floods, fires or cyclones

The first days

After a flood, bushfire, cyclone or severe storm, the priorities are safety, then contacting your insurer, documenting damage, and finding out what government assistance has been activated for your area. Disaster assistance and recovery grants are often available for declared events, and business.gov.au and state government sites list current programs.

Talk to the ATO and creditors early

The ATO may provide support for businesses affected by disasters, such as more time to lodge or pay. Contact them or ask your tax agent. Talk to your landlord, suppliers and existing lenders too. Many will agree to temporary arrangements if you raise it early and explain the situation.

The funding gap

Insurance assessments, claims and payouts take time. Grant applications take time. Meanwhile the business may need to clean up, repair, hire equipment, restock and keep paying core staff. That gap is where finance helps.

Bridging to the payout

Bridging finance covers costs now and is repaid when the insurance payout or assistance arrives. For businesses with property, a property-secured loan starting at $20,000 and reaching $5,000,000, with interest prepaid or added to the loan, can fund recovery with nothing to pay until the money comes through. See bridging finance and prepaid versus capitalised interest. Unsecured options may suit smaller needs if the business was trading well before the event.

Presenting your business to a lender

Provide statements covering the period before the disaster so the lender can see normal trading, plus anything showing the recovery underway: insurance claim details, quotes for repairs, reopened trading days, customer bookings. Explain the event briefly. A person-led lender will take it into account.

Staged recovery

Recovery is often staged: clean-up, temporary operations, repairs, restocking, return to full trading. Map each stage and its cost with the cash flow gap calculator and fund them in sequence rather than borrowing for everything at once.

Look after yourself and your staff

Disasters are exhausting. Lean on your accountant, industry associations and community support services. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.

An illustrative example

A café in a flood-affected town was closed for weeks while repairs were assessed. Insurance would cover most costs, but the payout was months away. A second mortgage over the owners’ home, with interest added to the balance, funded repairs and restocking so the café could reopen quickly. The insurance payout repaid most of the loan.

Keep records from day one

Photograph damage before clean-up, keep every receipt for emergency repairs, equipment hire and temporary premises, and note the days the business could not trade. Insurers, assistance programs, the ATO and lenders all ask for evidence, and records made at the time are far more convincing than reconstructions months later. A simple folder, physical or digital, with dated photos, invoices and correspondence saves a great deal of stress.

Questions to ask your insurer

What does the policy cover for business interruption as well as physical damage? What evidence is needed, and by when? Can part of the claim be paid early to fund urgent repairs? Who assesses the damage, and how long does that usually take? The answers tell you how large and how long your funding gap is likely to be, which is exactly what a lender needs to know.

Get help bridging the wait

Make a quick enquiry and tell us what happened and what you are waiting on. No credit check applies at this point, a person checks it, and your data stays with us. Fund your recovery.