Storm damage or wear and tear: why insurers refuse roof claims

Storm damage is sudden. A gale lifts a ridge, strips slates or drops a branch through the covering, and the roof is sound one day and open the next. Wear and tear is gradual. Nails weaken over the years, tiles crack, lead fatigues, felt perishes and moss holds moisture against the surface, until water finally finds a way through.

Policies cover the first and exclude the second, which is why one wet ceiling can lead to opposite outcomes. The consumer group Which? names water coming in through a roof that has not been looked after as a typical wear and tear case. The difficulty is that a storm often finishes off a roof already close to failing, and then the argument is about which came first. That is the point where evidence counts for the most.

A few signs suggest sudden force. Several tiles or slates missing in a patch, with the neighbouring ones intact. Ridge tiles displaced or lying on the ground. Fresh breaks with clean, bright edges rather than weathered ones. Debris in the garden or damage to fences and outbuildings nearby, which shows the weather was severe in your street and not only on your roof. The weather on the day matters as much as the state of the tiles. Note whether it was a gale or just heavy rain, and whether neighbours lost tiles, fence panels or branches too. A coastal gale can hurt a sound roof as easily as a tired one, so a proper account of that day belongs in the file.

Timing helps as well. If a leak first appeared directly after a named storm or a spell of gales, and the loft was dry before, that sequence is useful to an assessor. Our page on checking a roof after a storm lists what to look for safely from the ground, and tiles blown off in a storm covers the commonest storm faults, including how a lifted run of tiles tends to look.

An assessor looks for the opposite pattern. Tiles slipped across a whole slope because the fixings have given up, rather than a few lost in one spot. Cracked or porous tiles, heavy moss, sagging battens, perished underlay, lead split along old creases, and flashings that have lifted from the wall over time. Dark staining on timber in the loft suggests water has been entering for a long period. Be candid with yourself about the roof's history. If tiles have been slipping for a year, it is better to say so and to explain what has been done about it than to have the insurer discover it.

None of this means a claim is hopeless. A roof can show age and still have been damaged by a storm. The risk is that an insurer notices the age first. Regular maintenance, with records, shows a roof was looked after. Our guide on nail sickness explains one common age fault that policies tend to treat as gradual, and why it often needs more than a quick patch.

Photographs are the backbone of any claim. Structural engineers advising homeowners after storms describe them as vital, because they record the damage as it stood. Take them first, ahead of any tidying or repair: the roof from the ground, the debris, the ceiling, the loft timbers, with a date on each where you can.

Then ask a roofer to survey and write down what was found, including the likely cause. A neutral account, with close-up pictures of the fractures, helps an assessor understand the sequence of events. At JJ Roofing we photograph every problem area and give you the plain verdict on cause and cure. The insurer decides the claim; what we supply is a clear record that stands on its own, and a quote giving one total for the repair.

Ask the insurer to explain its decision in writing and to say which part of the policy applies. Compare that with the facts: when the damage appeared, what the weather was doing and how the roof looked beforehand. If your evidence tells a different story, send it, and ask for the decision to be reviewed.

Which? advises raising a complaint with the insurer first and, if that fails, going to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which costs nothing to use. Keep every receipt for emergency work in the meantime. Our hub on emergency roof repairs lists the related pages, and the answer on whether insurance covers a roof leak gives the wider picture, including what to read in your policy. Whichever way the decision goes, the leak itself still has to be fixed, and a modest, well-documented repair keeps your options open.