Roof leaking!!!

Ladybird19

We are currently in an IVA and have just submitted a full and final settlement offer to clear it. I went into my daughter's bedroom yesterday morning and the roof was leaking! The insurance company won't pay to have it fixed because it's a flat roof and they are not covered! Can anyone give me any advice as to what to do please? Because of the IVA we can't get credit and it's going to cost about £850 to get it done, and we don't have any spare cash.

cat64

Sorry Ladybird19, cant offer any advice just wanted to say I hope someone comes up with something. We had the same problem with our flat roof, the leak caused the bedroom ceiling to collapse, we were very lucky as my parents bailed us out with fixing the roof, but the ceiling has never been fixed (and that was more than 2 years ago!)

Good luck!

in*the*red_6

Hi ladybird
Were you aware that your buildings insurance didn't cover a flat roof? Did they ask you whether it was flat or pitched when you took it out?
ITR

james32_uk

Pain in the !!! because you're just submitting full and finals on your IVA, but you can speak to your IP in cases like this for a brief suspension of your monthly payment. Give them a ring and explain.

PeachPickle

That happened to me too! My dad fixed it himself though £200 for the scaffold £150 for the materials. All fine now. Get some more quotes if you can!

ben500

Firstly it is very unlikely that your policy specifically excludes flat roofs I don't know of any such policy, it could be the age of the roof some exclude anything over ten years as this is the regarded lifespan of a flat roof for insurance purposes unless regularly maintained and documentary proof in which event they would refer you to the maintainers warranty anyway.
Flat rooves are covered if punctured by a falling object or in certain circumstances due to accidental damage, your child walking on it for example or for that matter even you {There is an obscure ombudsman's ruling that the policy holder cannot be penalised for being stupid only negligent} if your repudiation is not due to one of the above I would ask your insurers to examine again, they may be reluctant to do so but if you insist they will only refuse if your roof is absolutely shot and they have photograph's which clearly depict this to substantiate the repudiation. Do you know who underwrites your policy? Is it standard builds or do you have accidental damage extension? How old is the roof? Has is suffered due to recent inclement weather ie been impacted by falling/flying object?

HenryWeston

if its only a small leak, caused by the felt splitting, you could go to B+Q etc buy a tin of bitumin, wait for a dry day, brush all the chippings off the flat roof, and paint over all of it with the bitumin paint, and if there is a large hole in the felt, buy a tube of 'roof and gutter sealant' fill the gap and paint over with the bitumin paint. flat roof fixed ! i've fixed them like this before and it works. flat roofs are very simple but the companies that repair them charge a fortune.