home insurance and roof

Airwolf1

It will probably depend on what part of the country you're in, but if I remember correctly, about 6/7 years ago in West Yorkshire, I had a roof replaced. It was a mid terraced, with an adjoining bathroom, this was done too. I think the cost was roughly £4,000, but I can't be sure.

Always get 2/3 detailed quotes anyway, so you can see what the roofing company will do.

DON79

Thank you, am in northampton. it's probably gone up a little then but wil get more than one quote just to be sure. It's annoying because the local council are replacing roof's just now in the area which obviously need done but they are not offering any assistance or grants for it, even though the council are long overdue in replacing them.

ben500

If you are have having major work done to the roof it is always best to replace the underfelt at the same time, the reason being that the tiles/slates would need to be removed in order to replace it anyway so to leave it in situ and then have to re-visit and deal with it at a later date would be extremely costly, get it all done in one go it may mean paying a higher price in the first instance but you have to bear in mind the cost of scaffold and other equipment, scaffold itself could run anywhere between £400- £1.5k dependant on access, if you are end of terrace it may even mean an application to the local authority if erecting over a public highway or impeding roadway.

I suspect from the wording of your post you already know the answer to your question about the claim being valid, storm is often blamed for damage to a roof when all it has done is merely highlighted an existing problem rather than caused it, the big question with storm claims is, would the damage sustained have occurred if the roof was in a sound condition prior to the event? Many people gripe about their "storm" claims being declined as "gradual operating cause" just because they have sustained some inclement weather immediately prior to a water ingress, the fact of the matter is that any roof in good condition SHOULD be storm proof but may still sustain some damage in particularly adverse weather. Most people never give a second thought to their roof until it starts leaking or debris finds it's way into the garden or onto a footpath, or worse still on top of the car or inhabitants.

A quick check can be made by going into the loft space and looking to see if you can see any daylight peeping through, if the underfelt is damaged then see if you can look through the damaged area to surrounding areas, as airwolf said the underfelt is there to divert run off water to rainwater goods, if there are any punctures tears or rotted area these will allow water into the property each and every time it rains, this overtime can cause you serious problems with perhaps rot setting into timbers etc if the holes are big enough then wildlife/birds will also use this to access the loft space and cause more damage. Again as airwolf recommends get at least two or three quotes, unfortunately this time of the year is not the best to do so as roofers are busier than hell at the moment and it will be hard to get them to come around and quote. If you make the claim your insurer will know what the cost is going to be or at least have a damn good idea, the surveyor who visits should also be in a position to supply you with a fair idea and you can use the info he supplies as your guide.

DON79

The roof is not leaking but we do need to get it sorted, having inspected it from the loft space. i think my OH said he can only see daylight at the bottom of the roof above the fascia which we had replaced. Had we known the roof needed it more, we would have done that instead but we didn't know until the work had started and no more money available right away. I do know that the timbers are ok, it's just the batons and tiles and felt we need to replace.

Thanks for the replies.

SandC

If it helps any, I had to have the roof refelted about 4 years ago (when I was sitting in bed and it was raining outside and suddenly there was a drip, drip, dripping and one tiny hole, coming straight through the roof and ceiling from the loft). I paid £1900 all in. There was nothing wrong with any of the tiles so it was a straight 'gerrem all off, refelt, gerrem back on again'.

I chose the firm by asking the maintenance guys of the company I worked for who they used for roof work on the properties that the company owned.

This is Midlands area.

cogito

DON79 wrote: »

The roof is not leaking but we do need to get it sorted, having inspected it from the loft space. i think my OH said he can only see daylight at the bottom of the roof above the fascia which we had replaced. Had we known the roof needed it more, we would have done that instead but we didn't know until the work had started and no more money available right away. I do know that the timbers are ok, it's just the batons and tiles and felt we need to replace.

Thanks for the replies.

This may or may not be a problem. I can see daylight in places where my roof meets the eaves but this is simply normal ventilation.

ben500

If it is only the bottom strip/edge of the underfelt that has gone it will be a lot cheaper to repair, for example the bottom two layers of tiles/slates can be removed and new underfelt laid, so long as it is "dressed in" correctly to ensure run off to rainwater goods.

paperbag

DON, I really relate to your problem because my house has suffered to no end of roofing problems, and it still not 100% over. A couple of months ago, my builders (trusted company) encouraged me to ring the insurance company to see if I could get some work paid by them - this is damp infiltrations to the side of the flat roof. In a nutshell, the insurance company said 'B***er off' - despite the fact that we had spent a lot of money in trying to fix the problem, they said this was an on-going wear-and-tear type of problem.

To those who told you to 'go and rent', I'd say, you try and buy your average Victorian-age house in this country. I had a homebuyer survey when I bought the place but these things only come up with a full structural survey - if that. Houses, here in Brighton at least, are mainly old and badly maintained. I have lost count of the number of times I have cursed the day I bought the house. I have only recently begun making peace with what we now refer to as 'Amityville'

Bottom line is, start putting some money aside to get a good roofer and forget the insurance imho.

DON79

SandC wrote: »

If it helps any, I had to have the roof refelted about 4 years ago (when I was sitting in bed and it was raining outside and suddenly there was a drip, drip, dripping and one tiny hole, coming straight through the roof and ceiling from the loft). I paid £1900 all in. There was nothing wrong with any of the tiles so it was a straight 'gerrem all off, refelt, gerrem back on again'.

I chose the firm by asking the maintenance guys of the company I worked for who they used for roof work on the properties that the company owned.

This is Midlands area.

Thanks very much Sandc. I think will probably need to get an official inspection done, some of the tiles are not great but there were loads left over spare in the "inherited" garden shed too so I don't think it should be too bad. Thanks.

DON79

paperbag wrote: »

DON, I really relate to your problem because my house has suffered to no end of roofing problems, and it still not 100% over. A couple of months ago, my builders (trusted company) encouraged me to ring the insurance company to see if I could get some work paid by them - this is damp infiltrations to the side of the flat roof. In a nutshell, the insurance company said 'B***er off' - despite the fact that we had spent a lot of money in trying to fix the problem, they said this was an on-going wear-and-tear type of problem.

To those who told you to 'go and rent', I'd say, you try and buy your average Victorian-age house in this country. I had a homebuyer survey when I bought the place but these things only come up with a full structural survey - if that. Houses, here in Brighton at least, are mainly old and badly maintained. I have lost count of the number of times I have cursed the day I bought the house. I have only recently begun making peace with what we now refer to as 'Amityville'

Bottom line is, start putting some money aside to get a good roofer and forget the insurance imho.

Hi Paperbag, thanks for your reply. i am sorry to hear you are still having some troubles. I know what you mean about the survery, it doesn't bring everything up that you should know unfortunately. We are going to be saving up to get it fixed and my OH is due a big-ish sum back from his bank charges claim if it ever goes through. so that should cover it, we hope!

As for being told "go rent" maybe these are from people who can't get on the property ladder and never have been so don't know the least thing about owning a house.

Thanks