A roof fails in two ways. Sometimes something happens: a gale lifts a run of tiles, a branch comes down on a slope, a flat roof splits under a fallen limb. Other times nothing happens at all, and a roof that has been ageing for decades finally lets water in. Insurers treat these very differently, and the difference decides whether a claim is paid.
This guide gives the general picture for any pitched or flat roof in England: what policies tend to cover, what they tend to leave out, what evidence helps, how an excess works, and how a claim sits alongside a repair quote. Policies vary between insurers and between years, so your own schedule and policy wording always outrank anything written here. We are a roofer, not an insurer or a claims adviser, and we cannot tell you that a claim will be accepted. Our own page on roof leaks and insurance looks at the leak case in particular.
Sudden events and gradual wear are treated differently
Buildings insurance generally pays for loss or damage caused by named events, often called insured perils. Storm, flood, fire, impact and escape of water are the familiar ones. A storm that strips slates or lifts a ridge fits the description. A roof that has slowly softened, cracked or lost its pegs over many years does not, because the cause is time rather than an event.
Insurers describe the second category as wear and tear, gradual deterioration or lack of maintenance, and policies commonly exclude it in some form. That is not a trick. A policy is priced to cover the unexpected, and repairing a roof that is simply old would turn it into a maintenance contract.
Where the line is blurry
Real roofs rarely arrive neatly labelled. A storm may lift tiles that were already slipping. A ridge may fall in wind because the mortar under it had crumbled for years. In those cases an insurer will usually look at the condition before the event, and may pay for the storm-related part while declining the rest. Some policies define a storm by wind speed or rainfall, so read the definitions section rather than assuming the everyday meaning. If a declined storm claim goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the ombudsman looks at three points: did storm conditions occur around that date, does the pattern of damage fit a storm, and did the storm do the main harm.
Accidental damage to the building is a separate cover on some policies and absent from others. Check whether yours has it before you decide how to describe what happened.
What home insurance usually covers on a roof
Because wording differs, the list below is a guide to what tends to be included and what tends to be excluded. It is not a promise about any single policy.
| Roof problem | How it is usually treated |
|---|---|
| Tiles, slates or ridge blown off in a storm | Often covered, subject to the excess and policy conditions |
| Tree or branch falling on the roof | Often covered as impact damage |
| Water getting in through storm-damaged covering | Often covered, including resulting damage inside |
| Slow leak from an old, worn covering | Often excluded as wear and tear |
| Moss, lichen or blocked gutters | Usually excluded as maintenance |
| Poor workmanship in earlier repairs | Usually excluded; a matter for the roofer who did it |
The damage that follows the roof
Where a storm opens the roof, the rain that follows can ruin ceilings, insulation and contents. Many policies deal with those separately: the roof under buildings cover, the plaster, decorations and insulation under the same section, and furniture and belongings under contents cover. Keep the two apart when you list losses.
Older and specialist roofs are no different in principle, but the cost of putting them right is larger and the insurer may ask more questions. Pages on stone roof insurance and slate roof insurance cover those cases.
Making the roof safe, and the evidence insurers ask for
When water is coming in, stopping further damage comes first, and policies commonly expect you to take reasonable steps to limit it. Making the building watertight for now comes before everything else: a temporary sheet, a few loose tiles secured, a hole boarded. We prioritise leaks and storm damage for that reason. Keep the receipt for any emergency work, and keep anything removed from the roof where you can do so safely.
Photographs before anything moves
Before repairs begin, photograph the damage from the ground and, where it can be done safely, from a window or from the survey. Date-stamped photographs of the missing or broken pieces, the affected ceilings and any fallen debris help an assessor see a sudden event. If you have older pictures of the roof from a sale, a survey or a family photograph, they can show its previous state.
What the insurer will normally want
- The date you noticed the damage and what you think caused it.
- Photographs of the roof and of the damage inside.
- Details of recent weather, and the dates of any storms.
- Any history of previous repairs or maintenance, with invoices if you have them.
- A roofer's report or quote describing the damage.
Do not clear away everything on a hunch. An assessor may want to see the damaged tiles or the splintered rafter, and a roof stripped bare before inspection leaves the question of cause unanswered.
What a roofer's report can and cannot do
A roofer sees the roof from close up, and an insurer's own loss adjuster is often interested in that view. A useful report is specific: which slope, which components, what the failure looks like, and whether the pieces that came away were sound or already loose. When we survey a roof, we photograph your own roof, record the position of each damaged area, and write what we see in the written report.
What a roofer's report cannot do is decide the claim. We can describe the damage and its apparent cause, and we are glad to be factual about it. We do not make the coverage decision, and we will not describe wear as storm damage or the reverse to help a claim along. An honest report protects you: an insurer that finds the account exaggerated may refuse the whole claim, not only the doubtful part.
Ask for the survey photographs as well as the report. Images of the actual defects tend to carry more weight than a paragraph of description.
Survey or inspection first
If you do not yet know why a roof is leaking, a survey comes before any claim. Our insurance roof inspections page explains what an inspection records, and the same photographs serve a claim and a repair plan.
Excesses, quotes and how a claim runs beside the repair
An excess is the first part of any claim that you pay yourself. Policies often carry a general excess and sometimes a higher one for particular events such as storm or subsidence. If the repair costs little more than the excess, a claim may leave you with nothing to recover and a mark on your claims history, so it is worth asking your insurer before you start rather than after.
Quote and claim, side by side
The order that works best is straightforward. Report the damage to your insurer, make the roof safe, then get a written quote for the permanent work so the insurer can compare it with its own assessment. An insurer may appoint its own loss adjuster, ask for two quotes, or use an approved repairer, and the policy wording says which. Check before you authorise permanent work, because starting before the insurer has agreed can put payment at risk.
Our quote covers everything from scaffold and stripping through materials and labour to waste and making good. That layout makes it easy to see which lines relate to the insured damage and which are upgrades or wider work. If the insurer pays for like-for-like repair and you want a different covering, the difference falls to you.
Betterment and like for like
Insurers generally pay to restore the building to its previous condition, not to improve it. For an older roof, putting stone back as stone or slate as slate is usually the sensible reading of that, and it also keeps planning and Building Regulations simpler, as the guides on roof Building Regulations and roof planning permission explain.
Listed, stone and other specialist roofs
Some roofs are harder to insure or to repair under a claim: traditional stone slate, natural slate on a steep pitch, lead valleys, and listed properties. The materials are costly, skilled labour is needed, and consent may be required before work can start. Telling your insurer about the roof when you take out or renew a policy is far better than finding out at claim time that it was not described correctly.
If your house is listed, the insurer will usually want the work done to the standard the building needs, and the council's conservation team may need to approve it. That can lengthen the claim, so start the conversations in parallel rather than one after the other.
Flat roofs and extensions
Flat roofs are often on extensions, garages and dormers, and an insurer may ask about the age of the covering and any earlier repairs. Pages on flat roof insurance and garage roof insurance go through those cases.
When the roof is not yours alone
On a leasehold flat or a terrace, the freeholder or a management company may insure the building and you insure the contents. The route for a claim then runs through them, so ask who holds the buildings policy before you call anyone.
Guarantees, maintenance and what a claim does not replace
A claim and a guarantee are separate things. Home insurance pays out for damage from an insured event. A roofer's guarantee covers the roofer's own workmanship, and it responds to a fault in the work, not to a storm. Ours is a written 10-year workmanship guarantee. Where a guarantee passes to a new owner is covered in does a roof guarantee transfer when you sell.
Maintenance matters to both. Insurers expect a roof to be kept in reasonable repair, and regular attention to gutters, moss, ridge and flashings is how small defects get caught before they become large ones. Our roof maintenance checklist sets out what to look at and when, and the record you keep can support a claim as well as a repair plan.
If you are buying rather than claiming, the questions turn around: what has the previous owner claimed, and what does the roof look like now? What to check on the roof when buying a house is written for that reader.
Whatever happens with the insurer, a roof still needs doing properly. When you are ready for a quote, see how we price a roof job on the Supreme Roofing Stroud home page.