The short answer
It depends on why the tiles are loose. Policies commonly pay for sudden storm damage but hold back on anything put down to age, slow decay or neglect, which is how perished mortar is usually classed. Check your policy wording, photograph the damage, keep the tiles, and ask your insurer what evidence they want before any repair starts.
Storm damage against gradual wear
Ridge tiles sit at the crown of the covering, bedded on mortar and tied down by fixings. As the highest and most exposed part of the covering, they take the wind first. That is why insurers look closely at ridge claims.
In broad terms, home insurance policies tend to draw a line between an insured event and a maintenance problem. A storm that lifts or dislodges tiles on a ridge that was in good order is the kind of sudden event that policies are written to cover. Mortar that has cracked, eroded and fallen away over years is more likely to be treated as wear and tear, or as something an owner should have had repaired. The tile ends up on the ground in either case, and the two can look much the same from below.
Some policies define a storm in their small print, so read that definition before assuming anything. Wording differs between insurers, and we cannot say what yours will do. We can say what the roof shows, and that is what the insurer will want to know.
What evidence helps a claim
Insurers generally ask for the date of the damage, the cause, and proof of the condition beforehand. You can help by gathering a few things as soon as you notice a problem.
- Photographs of the roof, the gap and the fallen tiles from the ground, with dates on the files.
- Any record of the weather event, such as a named storm or a forecast warning, and the date you noticed the damage.
- Earlier photographs or invoices showing the ridge was maintained.
- The broken tiles themselves, kept somewhere dry rather than thrown away.
- Notes of any water marks on the ceiling, with the date you first saw them.
Do not start a permanent repair before the insurer has had a chance to inspect or agreed to what you may do. Insurers normally expect you to stop further damage with emergency work, so keep the receipt. Our answer on fitting dry verge to an older roof is a useful companion if the insurer asks whether the gable edge is also affected.
How a roofer's survey fits in
A roofer cannot decide your claim, and we do not tell an insurer what to conclude. What we can do is record what is there. A survey looks at the ridge from the roof, tile by tile, and our photographs show the condition of the bedding and the fixings: crumbled mortar, rusted clips, a clean break, or a tile that sheared off its bed.
That record is factual and dated. Sound mortar with wind-lifted tiles shows up in the photographs, and so does the reverse. If the bedding had already failed, they show that too, and it is better to know before you submit a claim than after it is declined. We will tell you plainly which we see, whichever way it points.
Our quote after the survey covers temporary cover, tile replacement, re-bedding, access and waste, so an insurer's assessor can see what the job involves. Our guide to storm-loosened ridge tiles explains how wind damage typically shows on a ridge.
Why the mortar question comes up
Under BS 5534:2014, a ridge or hip tile needs a mechanical fixing in addition to its mortar bed. A ridge bedded only in mortar, with no fixing, is therefore a ridge that depends on a material the standard no longer trusts by itself.
That is not the same as saying such a ridge is negligent or uninsurable, and many older roofs are in that state. It helps to know how your own ridge was built before any storm tests it, which a photographed roof survey will tell you plainly. But an insurer's assessor who sees a mortar-only ridge fail may ask whether the failure came from the storm or from the construction. If you are planning work, mechanical fixing is the way to bring a ridge into line with the current standard. The detail of what goes into the bed is covered in our answer on the mortar mix used for ridge tiles.
A good record of the ridge before a storm is worth more than a good argument afterwards. A dated photograph from last year can settle a question that takes weeks otherwise.
Cost, excess and whether to claim at all
Not every repair is worth a claim. MyBuilder's 2026 national guides list minor repairs at £100 to £300, storm-damage fixes at £500 to £1,500 and ridge re-bedding or replacement at £300 to £600. They are not Supreme prices. If your policy excess is close to the cost of the work, a claim may not pay, and a claim on record can matter later.
On the other hand, if damage is wider than the ridge, with slipped tiles, a damaged verge or water inside, the numbers shift and a claim becomes more sensible. Ask your insurer before you decide, and get the written quote first. If you let the property out, or the roof is shared across a terrace, check whose policy responds before anyone starts work.
Our own work comes with a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing, which is a separate thing from your home policy. For other work along the roof edge, see our ridge, verge and dry-fix page. Afterwards you get a cleared site with the rubbish gone.