Storm damage & insurance
What should I do after storm damage to my roof?
Safety first, then evidence, then temporary protection, then diagnosis: the order to work in after a storm damages a roof.
- Evidence before expenditure
- Options, not pressure
- Updated 2026-09-16
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Emergency roofing response across Cumbria and the Borders, answered day and night.
Work in order: make people safe, record the evidence, get the building protected, then have the roof properly assessed. Do not climb onto a wet or damaged roof, and do not clear debris that may still be unstable. Dated photographs taken before any temporary work are worth more than a description written later.
Safety first
Keep away from anything hanging, leaning or resting on a gutter, and keep the area beneath it clear. Assume detached lead, cracked pots and slipped slates could come down. If there is any doubt about a chimney or a section of roof, treat the ground below as out of use.
Inside, deal with water as you would any leak: protect the room, and isolate electrics if water is near fittings.
Record what you find
Photograph the roof from the ground on every elevation, plus any debris where it landed, and the internal damage. Note the date and the storm. If you can safely see into the roof space, photograph that too.
This record helps the diagnosis and gives you something factual to provide to an insurer. What your policy covers is for your insurer to determine.
- Every elevation from the ground, dated
- Debris where it fell, before clearing
- Internal water damage and staining
- The roof space if it can be reached safely
Temporary protection
Where the roof is open, temporary covering stops further water entering while a permanent repair is planned. This is deliberately provisional and should be described as such, with the permanent work specified after inspection in safe conditions.
Keep any temporary work photographed too, so the sequence of events is clear.
Then the assessment
A proper post-storm inspection looks beyond missing components: ridge and verge bedding, flashings, fixings, and coverings that have lifted without being removed. A roof can be measurably less weathertight after a storm while looking unchanged from the ground.
Where access is difficult, a drone survey covers every elevation quickly and produces dated imagery of the damage as found.
What evidence should you look for?
These are indications, not conclusions. Each one narrows where to look; only an inspection confirms a cause.
Debris on the ground but no visible gap from below.
Components may have moved on an elevation or area not visible from the ground.
Areas that may need investigating
- ridge and hips
- upper slopes
- adjacent roofs and abutments
A new leak in the first driven rain after a storm.
A detail may have been disturbed without anything being removed.
Areas that may need investigating
- flashings
- ridge and verge bedding
- coverings that rock when touched
Urgency: Urgent
Storm damage leaves a building less protected than it was, and the next spell of weather usually arrives before a planned appointment would.
Treat it as more urgent if you see:
- The roof is open to the weather
- Components are hanging or loose above an area in use
- Water is entering the property
- A chimney or section of roof appears unstable
Repair or replace?
Protection first, decision second. Storm findings are usually local repairs to what was disturbed; wider work becomes relevant where the storm has revealed that bedding or fixings were already at the end of their life.
A local repair is realistic when
- Identifiable components and details disturbed by the storm
Partial renewal is worth costing when
- A whole ridge, verge or elevation consistently displaced
Further investigation is the right next step when
- Internal symptoms without visible external change
How we can help
- Storm Damage Roof RepairsStorm damage repair covers making a wind- or water-damaged roof safe, documenting the damage for an insurance claim, and carrying out the permanent reinstatement. The critical first step is a make-safe visit and photographic evidence recorded before anything is disturbed.
- Emergency Roof RepairsEmergency roof repair is a same-day intervention to stop water entering a building and to make a damaged roof safe. Sovereign Roofing Cumbria answers its emergency line 24 hours a day, makes the roof watertight on the first visit where it is safe to do so, and then quotes separately for the permanent repair.
- Drone Roof InspectionsA drone roof inspection uses a camera-equipped unmanned aircraft to photograph and film every part of a roof at close range without scaffolding, ladders or anyone working at height. It produces high-resolution evidence of the actual condition of ridges, valleys, chimneys, flashings and coverings, delivered as a documented report you can keep, share and compare against future inspections.
Related questions
What should you do next?
If the roof is open or anything is hanging, call us on 07777389016. Otherwise photograph everything and arrange a post-storm inspection covering fixings and details, not just missing coverings.
Last updated 2026-09-16.
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