Roof Insurance Claims UK: Who Pays for What in 2026

Your roof is damaged, you have buildings insurance, and you assumed that was the end of it. Then the insurer sends a loss adjuster, the adjuster uses the phrase "pre-existing condition", and suddenly you are being asked to prove that a roof you have never climbed onto was in good order the day before the wind got up.

This is where most homeowners lose money on a roof claim — not at the point of a flat refusal, but in the grey area between "storm damage" and "wear and tear". The two look almost identical from the ground. They are treated completely differently by your policy.

This guide sets out who actually pays for what: which roof damage buildings insurance covers, which parts of the bill land on you regardless, and what the Financial Ombudsman Service expects an insurer to prove before it turns you down.

At a Glance: Roof Insurance Claim Costs and Figures

A note on that survey figure: Checkatrade's roof inspection guide (2 July 2025) puts a standard inspection at £250, a fuller survey at £300–£500 and a drone survey at £200. MyJobQuote (24 June 2026) quotes £325. We have given both rather than splitting the difference — averaging two guides invents a precision neither has.

What Buildings Insurance Covers on a Roof

Buildings insurance covers the structure of your home. Which? (updated 18 September 2025) describes that as the walls, windows and roof, plus permanent fixtures. The insured perils on a standard policy typically include fire, flood, storms, fallen trees, vandalism, subsidence, and vehicle or aircraft impact.

Aviva's storm damage guidance (published 3 December 2024, updated 17 December 2025) is unusually specific about what that means on a roof. It lists as covered:

• Tiles or slates dislodged or missing
• Entire felt roofs lifted off
• Ridge or hip tiles missing or dislodged
• Damage caused by fallen trees

That is the sudden, visible, event-driven damage your policy is designed for. A tree comes down, a gust lifts the felt, twenty slates end up in the garden — that is a claim.

The same document lists what is not covered, and the list is longer:

• Damage that is longstanding, or down to maintenance issues or general wear and tear
• Cement or mortar deterioration on brickwork and chimneys
• Failed render on the exterior
• Gradual deterioration to any part of the roof or building
• Aged flat roofs
• Fences, hedges and gates

Direct Line's policy booklet (document dated 09/25) uses different wording to reach the same place: no cover for wear and tear, lowering in value, damage caused gradually, or faulty workmanship, design and materials.

One thing worth knowing, because it is widely misreported: neither Aviva nor Direct Line states an age at which a flat roof stops being covered. Aviva excludes "aged flat roofs" without defining the age. If you have a flat roof over a decade old, do not assume a 10-year or 15-year cut-off applies — read your own policy wording and ask the insurer directly, in writing.

The 55mph Storm Test — and Why It Is Not the Whole Story

If your claim is for storm damage, the insurer will first ask whether there was a storm at all. The industry convention is well established. The Association of British Insurers defines a storm as violent weather usually consisting of:

• Wind gusts of at least 55mph (equivalent to Force 10 on the Beaufort Scale), or
• Torrential rain at a rate of at least 25mm per hour, or
• Snow to a depth of at least 30cm in 24 hours, or
• Hail intense enough to damage hard surfaces or break glass

Aviva quotes the same thresholds, and Direct Line's policy booklet gives minimum wind speeds of 48 knots or 55mph. Ageas (published 2 August 2023, modified 23 May 2024) matches on wind, rain and snow but quantifies hail as stones exceeding 20mm in diameter, where the ABI and Aviva leave it qualitative. So the wind figure is consistent; the rest is insurer-specific — the first sign that 55mph is a convention rather than a legal threshold.

The Financial Ombudsman Service makes this explicit. Its storm damage guidance notes that some insurers say only winds above a certain point on the Beaufort scale count — but the Ombudsman quotes no mph figure of its own, and states plainly that "sometimes there are storms without high winds. Rain, hail or snowfall by itself can constitute a storm."

Instead, the FOS applies three questions:

1. Do we agree there was a storm on the date the damage happened?
2. Is the damage consistent with what we generally see as storm damage?
3. Were storm conditions the main cause of the damage, or did other factors mean the damage might have happened anyway?

That third question is where most roof claims are won and lost.

Wear and Tear: Why Roof Claims Get Declined

The Ombudsman is blunt about the principle. Its gradual damage guidance (last updated 10 July 2026) states: "Everything wears out eventually and insurance can't protect you from that." The FOS is unlikely to make an insurer pay for damage caused by wear and tear.

But there is a second half to that, and it is the half worth quoting back to your insurer: the FOS also holds that the insurer must prove it is fair and reasonable to rely on a gradual-damage exclusion. Poor pre-existing condition does not automatically defeat a storm claim. An assertion from an adjuster is not evidence. An inspection report is.

Practically, that means:

• Do not clear up before the assessment. Which? advises against discarding or cleaning up damage before it is assessed. The debris is your evidence.
• Photograph everything, from ground level and, if it is safe, from an upstairs window. Date-stamped images are worth more than any description.
• Keep receipts for emergency work. The ABI confirms insurers expect you to arrange temporary repairs to stop the damage worsening, and that receipts form part of the claim.
• Get your own report if the answer is no. An independent roofer's written assessment, at survey cost, is what turns "the roof was old" into a disputed fact rather than a settled one.
• Produce your maintenance history early. If the roof has been inspected in the past few years and you have the paperwork, it undercuts a neglect argument before it is made.

What You Pay Regardless

Even a fully accepted claim leaves you out of pocket in places.

The excess. This is the part you always pay. It is split between a compulsory excess set by the insurer and any voluntary excess you chose to lower your premium, as MoneyHelper (updated 18 February 2025) explains. Excesses differ by section of the policy — Which? notes the subsidence excess alone is often as much as £1,000. There is no reliable "typical" figure for a standard buildings excess, because it is set per policy: check your schedule rather than a cost guide.

Scaffolding. Access is frequently the largest single line on a roof job. Checkatrade (updated February 2026) puts scaffolding for a 2-storey semi at £650–£1,100 per week, averaging £875. High-level chimney scaffolding runs £500–£820 per week (average £660), and per square metre the figure is £20–£25, averaging £22.50. If the claim is accepted this normally forms part of the settlement — but if the claim is refused, it lands on you.

Your own survey. £250 to £325 depending on which guide you use, as above. If you are challenging a decision, this is money well spent.

The repair itself, if it is declined. Checkatrade's roof repair guide (pricing table dated June 2026) puts repairs at £90–£220 per square metre. Note that Checkatrade's own roof inspection page (July 2025) quotes £210–£465 per square metre for repairs — a materially different range from the same publisher. Ask any quoting roofer which type of work they are pricing.

Possibly, your future premium. The only quantified UK study we could source is dated: Which? research published in January 2022, using GoCompare quote data from 2021, found a single claim added an average of £91 to a £161 baseline premium — a 57% increase. Read that as directional rather than current, but the direction is not in doubt.

Regional Differences in Roof Costs

Where you live changes the number on the quote, which in turn changes what a settlement needs to cover. MyJobQuote's new roof guide (published 24 June 2026) is the only free source we found carrying an actual regional table. Its percentage variations against the national average:

Use the percentages rather than the pound figures on that page: the regional bands MyJobQuote publishes alongside them do not reconcile with its own stated UK average new roof cost of £5,250, which suggests the table is benchmarked against a different baseline.

The practical point for a claim is this. If your insurer's contractor is quoting to a national average and you live in London or the South East, the settlement may not cover a local roofer's price. That is negotiable — and a written local quote is how you negotiate it.

Need an independent quote to support a claim — or to challenge one? A written assessment from a local roofer who is not appointed by your insurer is the single most useful document in a disputed roof claim. Find vetted roofers in your area at localroofer.directory and get a second opinion before you accept a settlement figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to make a roof insurance claim?

Which? (updated September 2025) advises that you typically have around 180 days — roughly six months — to make a claim. In practice you should notify your insurer as soon as possible. The ABI notes most insurers run 24-hour emergency helplines that can advise on next steps and arrange repairs. Delay makes it harder to link the damage to a specific weather event, which is exactly the connection the insurer will test.

How long does an insurer have to settle my claim?

There is no fixed statutory deadline, and any guide telling you otherwise is wrong. The FCA's rules (ICOBS 8.1.1) require an insurer to handle claims "promptly and fairly", provide reasonable guidance and progress information, not unreasonably reject a claim, and settle promptly once terms are agreed. "Promptly" is the standard — there is no number attached to it. If it becomes unreasonable, that itself is grounds for complaint.

What is the difference between a loss adjuster and a loss assessor?

A loss adjuster is appointed by and works for the insurer, assessing your property and determining how the claim progresses. A loss assessor works for you. Which? describes assessors as claims specialists acting on the policyholder's behalf, charging either an upfront fee or a percentage of the claim. We have deliberately not quoted a percentage: neither Which? nor MoneyHelper publishes one, and the figures circulating online come from the assessors' own marketing. Agree the fee in writing before you sign anything. MoneyHelper points to the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters as a starting point.

My claim was rejected. What can I do?

Complain to the insurer in writing first. Under the FOS's published time limits, the business has eight weeks to issue a final response. You then have six months from the date on that final response to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free. There are longer backstops too: broadly, complain within six years of the problem or three years of becoming aware of it. It is worth doing — the FOS upheld 38% of the 6,399 buildings insurance complaints it received in 2025/26, against a 30% average across all products.