Why do insurers ask if you have a flat roof?

1Why the question appears on the form

Insurers set their own questions, and we cannot speak for any one of them. What can be said is that a flat roof has a shorter typical life than pitched tiles. MyBuilder's flat roof guide puts it at 15 to 30 years, and the figure moves with the covering, the workmanship and how the roof is looked after. A roof near the end of that range is more likely to let water in than one laid recently, so the age of the covering is a sensible thing for an insurer to ask.

You can usually answer from paperwork. The type of covering, roughly when it was laid, and the last time anyone worked on it are the facts that matter. If you bought the house recently, the survey or the seller's papers may tell you. If nothing records the age, say so, and have the roof looked at so you know where it stands. Read the policy booklet itself rather than relying on a summary. Our flat roofing page describes the coverings you are likely to find.

2Storm damage compared with gradual damage

Where a storm claim is contested, the Financial Ombudsman Service begins with the calendar: did a storm really strike on the day given? It then asks whether the damage is typical of storms, and whether it might have come about without one. It also notes that gradual damage is a frequent exclusion.

That is where flat roofs meet trouble. Which? points to rain entering a badly neglected roof as a textbook case of gradual wear. A membrane that has been splitting slowly for years, then shows a stain after a gale, can be argued either way.

The Ombudsman adds that the burden of showing an exclusion applies sits with the insurer. None of this predicts what your own policy will do, and no roofer can promise a claim will succeed. It simply explains why the history of the roof counts, and why a clear paper trail is worth more than a general assurance that the roof was fine.

3Records that help

A modest file does a lot. Keep the invoice and any survey photographs from the last time the roof was covered or repaired, with dates. Photograph the roof once a year from a safe position, and again after a bad storm. Note the dates of any leaks, where the stain appeared and what was done.

Maintenance counts as evidence of care. Clearing leaves from outlets, checking the edges and any areas of standing water, and having a roofer look at problems when they first show are all things you can write down. Our guides to the signs of a leaking flat roof and to water pooling on a flat roof list what to watch for, so a problem is spotted while it is small.

Where building control signed off work, keep the completion paperwork. We explain the consent position and arrange any notification for work that needs one, and the certificate is worth filing with the invoice.

4If water gets in before you have called anyone

The insurers' trade body issued advice for Storm Eunice in 2022: ring your insurer early, and check with it before commissioning even temporary emergency repairs. That order matters: ask before you spend.

Meanwhile, protect belongings, catch drips and photograph every stain, the ceiling and the roof surface if you can see it safely. Stay off the roof in wet or windy weather, and do not lean a ladder against a wet gutter.

A roofer can make a leak safe first with a temporary cover, and take photographs of the cause. Permanent work is better left until the insurer has had the chance to look, or has said in writing that you may go ahead. The photographs that show how water is entering, and where, are the most useful thing a roofer can add to the file. What the insurer makes of them is its own decision.

5If your insurer says no

Begin with a complaint to the insurer itself. Should eight weeks go by without a final answer, or should the answer disappoint, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at the matter without charge. Its page on gradual damage explains how it approaches these disputes.

A plainly recorded history helps your case. Dates, photographs and invoices show what the roof was like and when. If the refusal rests on the age of the covering, our page on how coverings compare over their life explains how long each is typically expected to last.

Before anything is replaced, the sensible step is a survey and a written quote, so that you know what the cause is and what the smallest proper fix would be. Replacing a whole roof to answer an argument about its age is rarely the quickest route to a settled position, and a repair that closes the real leak may serve you better.