Storm-damaged roof — what to do in the next 4 hours

Step 1 — make it safe (first 30 minutes)

• Turn off the electricity to the room with the leak at the consumer unit. Water + cables = fire / electrocution risk.
• Move people and pets out of the room. If the ceiling is bulging or sagging, it can collapse without warning — water weighs more than people realise.
• Move valuables away from the leak — paperwork, electronics, soft furnishings. Cover what you can’t move with a sheet of polythene.
• Do not go on the roof. We deal with storm-related falls every season. Tiles are slippery, wind is gusty, and you can’t see what’s solid underfoot.

Step 2 — contain the water (next 30 minutes)

• Put a bucket under the worst drip. If the ceiling is bulging, gently pierce it with a screwdriver at the lowest point of the bulge to release the water into your bucket — counter-intuitive but it prevents a much bigger collapse later.
• Towel the floor wherever water has gathered. Wet flooring trapped under furniture turns into a £1,500 timber-rot job.
• Open the loft hatch and look — you may be able to lay a tarp / sheet across the affected rafters to deflect water onto a single point you can manage.

Step 3 — document the damage (next 30 minutes)

Every photo you take now is worth £100s on your insurance claim.

• Photograph the visible roof damage from ground level on every accessible side of the house. Use your phone — date-stamped is best.
• Photograph the interior damage — ceiling staining, paint bubbling, any wet possessions.
• Note the time and the storm name (Storm Wrenn, Storm Bert, etc.) — this is what your insurer will ask for first.
• Save the photo set in two places — phone + email to yourself — so they survive a stolen / damaged phone.

Step 4 — call a roofer

This is the bit most homeowners get wrong: call a roofer BEFORE you call the insurer. Here’s why.

The insurer will ask “is the property safe?” If you say no (which is true for an active leak), they may dispatch a contractor of their choosing — often a national emergency-services firm that charges £400 for a tarp and then sub-contracts the proper repair to the cheapest local. The repair quality is hit-and-miss and the contractor stays your insurer’s “client”, not yours.

If you call your own roofer first, you get to:

• Pick someone whose work you trust
• Get the property made safe (tarped + secured) within 1–4 hours
• Get an insurance-ready photo report from the roofer that values the claim properly
• Keep the same roofer for the permanent repair

Step 5 — call your insurer

Now you have:

• Photos
• Storm name
• A contractor lined up
• A safe property (tarped + secured)

You’re in a strong position. Tell the insurer:

1. What happened (storm name, date, time)
2. That the property is now made safe
3. That you have a roofer lined up for the permanent repair
4. That you’d like them to settle on the permanent-repair quote rather than dispatch their own contractor

Most insurers will accept your roofer’s quote if it’s properly itemised. Some will not, and will insist on their own contractor — at which point you have the choice to accept their contractor or have ours quote for the gap that the insurer pays out.

The permanent repair

The tarp lasts 4–6 weeks in normal weather, less in another storm. The permanent repair happens on the next dry weather window.

What we do on a typical named-storm permanent repair:

1. Re-tarp + re-secure if the original tarp has shifted
2. Strip the damaged section — slate / tile / membrane back to deck
3. Repair the deck if water has rotted any timber — Code 3 lead or zinc soakers as needed
4. Re-lay the covering — matched slate, matched tile, or fresh EPDM if it was a flat roof
5. Re-flash any junction with Code 5 lead
6. Re-bed ridge tiles dry-fixed to current standard
7. Photographic record handed to you for insurance close-out

Typical permanent-repair cost: £600–£2,400 depending on damage extent. 10-year labour guarantee on the permanent repair.

Common questions