Leaking roof - insurance claim?

foolishqueen

Hello All,

I have just moved into my first house a couple of weeks ago, and with the joys of being a home owner my roof in the litchen extension has sprung 2 leaks.

It only leaks in when its heavily raining. The roof tiles all appear ok to me. It leaks in 2 places - first at where the main celing joist meets the roof. This joist is exposed (painted over and all that) and it drips down from the join between the joist and the ceiling. The second place is between the join in the roof and main wall. Here there is small area of damp and rotten plaster board where the water drips through.

Any one have any ideas? And does any one know if this sort of thing can be claimed on house insurance? My T&Cs don't make it clear - they make refernce to storm damage but nothing about damage caused by rain. I'm guessing it won't be covered as it woul dbe classed general maintenace.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers.

HugoSP

You're right.

The leak itself is general maintenance, however, your insurance co may pay for resulting damage, ie ceiling etc.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

We had the very same problem and was told by our insurance company,(even though it was the week of the bad storms) that it was a wear and tear issue.We had only just moved in also so I sympathise I know how tight money was for us when we had just moved.I hope you get it sorted and it doesnt cost you too much.

ormus

buy/borrow a ladder and have a look on the roof. im assuming roof tiles here? not a flat roof?
you may find its summat very simple like a few tiles come loose/shifted in the wind.
ive done small jobs like this in minutes, only required the tiles resiting back into the correct position. saved a small fortune.
good luck.

foolishqueen

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies. I had a quick look at the weekend and no obvious tile slippage was apparent, but I will get up on the roof at the weekend and take a proper look (if I'm feeling brave enough!) - I will pay particular attention to the flashing.

Cheers.