How strong does wind have to be for Insurers to pay for roof damage?

My roof got damaged several weeks ago by storms, where winds were gusting to 70kph – which is gale force 8, I believe. There wasn’t too much damage other than some tiles coming off, and some flashing ripped, but it’s still going to be a costly repair. The insurance company are rejecting the claim, stating that winds weren’t strong enough. I can’t see any evidence in “the small print” that gives a minimum wind speed. Has anyone out there had any simialr experience? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Eh! Sounds like bollocks to me.

Ask how the insurer can accurately know what the local wind conditions were at your house? Damaging gusts can be highly localised.

If you carpet was damaged by a leaky roof would they demand a minimum rainfall level had to be reached before they would pay up for that?

Most insurance companies use this these days

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/services/insurance/claims

If Met office reckon it was gusting to nearly 70kph in your postcode area I’d be surprised if they didn’t pay out – maybe there’s an error with your postcode.

by the way – how do you know it was gusting to 70kph where you were are you really close to a weather station?

have you any local newspaper stories of other wind damage from the same day that you can use to back up of very windy conditions locally?

Yeah, sounded like bollix to me too. I reckon it was a tactic to put me off pursuing it. I mean, if they rejct all claims and only a percentage decide to complain, it saves them paying out. I’m sensing the Ombudsman may be getting a call fairly soon.

I’m no expert but I’m not surprised the wind has to be recorded at a certain speed for them to pay for damage.

The policy pays for sudden, accidental damage, so they need to know that the reason repairs are necessary is because of damage due to strong wind, not neglect/lack of maintenance over a long period of time.

Cheers for the Met Office lead. I got two seperate historical weatehr reports, both concurred the 70k wind speed. Added to that, the weather station is down at teh airport. My house is a fair bit higher, up nearer the hills, and prone to stronger localised gusts. And that’s a great idea about the newspapers. Guess what I’ll be doing this lunchtime!

If there was a lag between the damage and you putting in the claim, you might also want to get your story straight about when you noticed the damage and why you didn’t tell them immediately. (You mentioned several weeks, don’t know how the timing worked) You might find they try to turn you down again if you didn’t comply with the claims conditions in your policy – notification within a certain period of time. They might ask how often you check and how you know the damage was due to the wind on that night. Which might be very easy to answer.

They knew about the damage pretty much straight away, as I reported it once I realised water was coming in. It’s taken them weeks to tell me “no”. They’ve lost paperowrk, and failed to respond to my emails. The weird thing is, they agreed with me at the time that the weather was stormy as they checked their weather system, although they are denying that now. It just doesn’t seem right to me. I had the roof fully repaired last year, so it was well-maintained.

how you know the damage was due to the wind on that night. Which might NOT be very easy to answer.

FTFY. Could be tricky one as you’ve left it so long – is your house very big and you don’t often get to see the ground all around it?
Have you had a quote for the repairs? Seeing as you’ll be paying an excess and your premium will go up next year it may not be worth claiming.

A chap told me the other week that when some tiles blew off his neighbours roof in 100mph plus winds in Dec, and landed on his car roof, that the neighbours insurers refused to pay for the repairs because the winds were so high.

Now, he may have been fobbed off by the neighbours, they may have been fobbed off by the insurers, or he may have got the wrong end of the stick. But that’s what he said, and he paid the repair bill himself.

A chap told me the other week that when some tiles blew off his neighbours roof in 100mph plus winds in Dec, and landed on his car roof, that the neighbours insurers refused to pay for the repairs because the winds were so high.

Is it not the case that the neighbours (and hence their insurance co) are only liable for damage if they were negligent? So if tiles blow off a roof in a poor state of repair in a 60mph wind – a valid claim. If tiles blow off a well maintained roof in a 100mph wind – no claim as the incident could not have been reasonably prevented.

Pfff. Insurance companies, eh? 🙄

I work for one, and I still find the whole personal insurance thing to be a total ball-ache.

Is it not the case that the neighbours (and hence their insurance co) are only liable for damage if they were negligent? So if tiles blow off a roof in a poor state of repair in a 60mph wind – a valid claim. If tiles blow off a well maintained roof in a 100mph wind – no claim as the incident could not have been reasonably prevented.

Yep, that’s pretty much the way they work it. They don’t pay if it’s too high and nothing they can do about it, they don’t pay if it’s too low and they don’t think it’s attributable, they only pay if the porridge is just right. This is, however, why you have fully comp on your car insurance.

As a slight aside, if you do decide to complain, then download their complaints procedure first and follow it to the letter. It’ll have timescales and deadlines etc which they’ll have to adhere to.
Generally, you can’t go to the FOS until you’ve been through the company’s complaints process.

Could be that I suppose.

If you have weather reports to back your claim, pursue it further. If you can prove what you said, I’d have paid out when I was a Claims Manager……

Sounds like bollix to me as well. We lost a ridge tile in January, phoned M&S insurance who didn’t even ask when it happened. They did’nt even question the quote I’d had from a local company! 5 days later they’d paid £595 into our A/C. (full ridge re-bed)