Does home insurance cover a roof leak?

A buildings policy normally names insured events such as storm, and full accidental damage cover is often an extra. It does not cover the slow deterioration of a building, which insurers describe as wear and tear or lack of maintenance. A roof that has leaked gradually through cracked tiles for years falls on the wrong side of that line. A roof that lost slates in a gale is a different matter altogether. It also helps to know whether your buildings cover includes accidental damage or sells it as an optional extra, since some policies treat it separately.

Which? illustrates the exclusion with a roof nobody has looked after, where water simply comes in. The same article quotes Financial Conduct Authority data: just 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 ended in a payout. That is no reason to avoid claiming, but it is a reason to be prepared and realistic, with the evidence gathered before you ring. Whether your own claim is accepted depends on your policy and the evidence, and nobody can tell you the answer without reading both.

Your policy schedule and wording tell you what is covered, what is excluded and what the excess is. Look for sections headed storm, escape of water, accidental damage and maintenance. Check whether the wording defines a storm, because definitions vary between insurers, and whether the policy expects the building to be kept in good repair.

Some policies add conditions, such as a duty to have the roof inspected at set intervals. If yours does, keep the records. If the paperwork has gone missing, your insurer or broker can send you a copy. Two more checks are worth making: whether storm claims carry a different excess from other claims, and whether the policy says anything about which contractors you may use for repairs. Reading it before a problem arises is worthwhile, because the cover you hold may differ from the cover you assume you have. Our short guide to home insurance and roof repair covers the same ground for planned work, and the emergency roof repairs hub links the related urgent guides.

Phone the insurer early. Which? points out that many insurers run round-the-clock emergency helplines, so there is rarely a reason to leave it overnight. If you must organise urgent repairs yourself, say so on that first call, save the receipts, and do not bin damaged goods unless they are hazardous, since all of it can support the claim. Mention too if the leak has been showing for some time; being open at the start avoids trouble later.

Photograph the leak, the stained ceiling, the damp loft timbers and any roof damage visible from the ground. Structural engineers' guidance for storm victims calls pictures vital evidence and lists temporary coverings among the urgent work worth reporting. Make the property safe first, because no photograph is worth a fall or an electric shock, and the insurer will not expect you to take either risk. Do not climb onto a wet roof to take pictures; a roofer can photograph the fault properly when attending, and we take close-ups of every problem area on a survey.

Limiting further damage is normally something a policy expects of you, and the cost may form part of a claim. Keep the invoice and a note of what was done. A tarpaulin or temporary cover fixed by a roofer protects the house and gives the insurer's assessor something to inspect afterwards.

Before agreeing a permanent repair, check with the insurer, because they may want to see the damage for themselves or send their own contractor. We explain the sequence in more depth in our guide on whether to pay for a temporary repair before the insurer agrees. A roofer who surveys and photographs the fault gives you an independent record, whichever way the decision falls, and our written quote gives you a single figure for the insurer.

Hearing no is not necessarily final. Request the decision with its reasons in writing, and compare them with the wording of your policy. Which? says the insurer itself is the first place to complain. If you remain dissatisfied, the Financial Ombudsman Service reviews complaints and is free to use.

Good images plus a written statement of the cause of the leak strengthen a complaint. If the cause is wear and tear, you still have a roof to fix, and the useful step is to do it at the lowest sensible cost: the smallest repair that properly cures the fault. Where a storm is involved and you intend to report it, our page on a storm damage insurance claim shows the order to work in, and storm damage versus wear and tear explains the line insurers draw.