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Home insurance claim - roofing issue

LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
in The potting shed
Hi all, I had some water ingress appear on my bathroom wall near the ceiling, which is where the end-ridge of my terraced house is. The ridge tiles do appear to be in quite poor condition. Would you guys bother getting your home insurance to look at this?

The issue did arise the day after the big storm just before Xmas so either the tiles were loosened by the high winds, or perhaps the rain was just driven in where it normally doesn't get into. Storm damage or wear and tear?

I have already informed the house insurance, and they are sending a surveyor round to assess next week, but if there's little chance of a successful claim I'd rather cancel and get the tiles sorted myself - I am dreading the surveyor denying the claim but uncovering further expensive work I might need to carry out!
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    If the surveyor’s visit to assess the damage is free of cost, I’d wait to see what he has to say. The insurer won’t deny a valid claim but check your excess criteria to see whether carrying out the recommended repair without claiming on your policy might be less costly.  
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Thanks - my excess is £250 and I've had an estimate of £500 to do it myself. Kind of wish I'd not bothered letting the insurance know. I do worry about the surveyor zeroing in on things like the state of the roof in general (it's not letting water in but is at the age when tiles are starting to slip) and ending up being obliged to carry out more extensive repairs... I do tend to worry and overthink unfortunately!
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • ViewAheadViewAhead Posts: 866
    I have a feeling most insurance small print says you have to inform them of any water damage that requires a repair even if you do not make a claim, so I shouldn't worry about having taken that route.   
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    @Loxley I can feel your pain from here  ;)  I have to have roof work done at a cost of £12k ( nice start to the new year ! ).
    The only thing which stops me from trying to make a claim is that I cannot in all honesty say that the roof has been well maintained during the previous ownership and I rather think that may come into it somewhere down the line.
    When mine is done, if anything further happens I would be looking to make a claim.
    Best of luck and hope you get it sorted out - bad enough with the external rain never mind the constant drip, drip, drip indoors as well >:)  
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    We had some storm damage to the roof a few years ago and the insurance assessor pulled out his laptop, checked the wind speed from a weather station several miles away and said the speeds were too low to have caused structural damage. I pointed out that his data wasn't from this valley and that the condition of my roof and surrounding roofs suggested that wind speeds were higher here but he didn't have discretion to use his brain. We get a very strange wind on this estate that seems to be caused by the shape of the valley behind us and many roofs get storm damage and there must be postcode based data to show that unless no one ever claims for it.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    12k, @philippasmith2 - ouch!
    I spent about 6k on having the house repointed (and chimney crowns redone) last year so could do without that sort of expense! At least now there is no longer a "drip drip drip" sound down the chimney when it rains (who knows where that water was going!)

    Annoyingly they also did my ridge tiles on the roof apex but not the section that has now failed; I can't blame them for that, we agreed the work. 


    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    what a nightmare. I feel for you all.
  • muckyhandsmikemuckyhandsmike Posts: 239
    we had a leaking bedroom roof after the first named storm and I managed to get one chap out, after spending a whole day phoning roofers ! He told me the roof liner was shot, probably original from when the house was built in the 60s. I could see that it was split in places and thought it was not worth talking to insurers. Cost us just over £5000 for one half of the roof and removal of a redundant chimney ….
    dreading having the other half done presently as it may well cost more ….
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Well one thing I don't have to worry about replacing is the roof liner - there isn't one! 

    5k sounds reasonable if it includes taking a chimney down as well!
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • WaterbutWaterbut Posts: 344
    If you have roof repairs done check with binoculars before paying the bill. They never answer emails or phone calls if they have missed a bit. I made that mistake.
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