Broken asbestos garage roof - too claim or not to claim...

Rushmore

Hi folks

Last weekend my parent's dog trotted on to our garage roof (tiered garden allowed access) and promptly put a nice 2ft by 2ft hole in the roof when the old roofing cracked. The dog deftly avoided any injury and looked very pleased with itself. Needless to say there is now no access to garage roof from garden.

Anyway, I have a bit of a dilemma as the remainder of the garage roof is pretty leaky and is probably asbestos cement. Would appreciate any advice on whether I should:

1. Call buildings insurance and claim for the accidental breaking of garage roof and try and get them to sort the whole roof. PRO: New roof for free. CONS: Increased premium? Potential increased premium just for calling them even if they refuse to do it?
2. Patch up the roof with a quick fix, wait until next Summer, rip off roof myself and get roofer to fit a new one. PRO: Known cost. CON: Dealing with asbestos cement. Probably around £1.5k for new roof.

Anyone else claimed in a similar circumstance?

Thanks very much

Nick

Jaynne

What's your excess? 1.5k is a lot - I find it hard to imagine that not to be worth claiming for.

When we had a bike stolen and claimed on insurance I didn't notice a significant hike.

Melaniep101

I'd love to get rid of our Asbestos garage roof, if it were me, I'd claim on your insurance.

27col

Why should the insurance company pay for a replacement garage roof. It's not a service to repair wear and tear, it's service to repair accidental damage. It sounds as if the roof was already in a dire state of dilapidation and already needed attention. Make a claim for the damage if you like, but don't expect a new garage roof out of it. The maintenance of the fabric of your house is down to you, not the insurance company.

Buzby

Concrete asbestos is not the major issue, although it's disposal can be a little problematic. My neighbour arranged for the sheets to be stacked then wrapped in plastic.

Providing none of the panels being disposed of are in pieces or have been broken down into small chunks the process is relatively painless.

NeverInDebt

I doubt your claim for a new roof will be accepted as said its a maintenance issue they most probably turn you down. They might however accept a repair but you have to way that up given you pay the first x amount. It shouldn't cost much unless whole roof needs doing. I had a new garage roof done this year from fibreglass cost me £1.3k including new boards and guttering

Rushmore

27col wrote: »

Why should the insurance company pay for a replacement garage roof. It's not a service to repair wear and tear, it's service to repair accidental damage. It sounds as if the roof was already in a dire state of dilapidation and already needed attention. Make a claim for the damage if you like, but don't expect a new garage roof out of it. The maintenance of the fabric of your house is down to you, not the insurance company.

Geez. I don't expect anything, hence why I'm asking for advice from people who have been in similar situations. In order to replace the damage they'd have to take off the other roof panels so I didn't know if they'd be likely to just sort the whole lot. By the time they've removed everything else to get at the broken panel it's just as easy to replace with new ones.

As this is the first house I've ever owned I've never claimed on buildings insurance before. Thanks so much for your sage advice.

macman

You don't say how big the dog is, but I'd say that if it's weight alone cracked the roof, then it was already dilapidated. Accordingly your accidental damage cover will not necessarily apply-and it certainly won't get you a whole shiny new roof.
It's there to cover damage, not replace due to wear and tear.

jellie

Do you even have the accidental damage extension on your insurance? It's not automatic on most policies.

If your insurers were willing to pay for a new roof it's likely they will deduct an amount for betterment. They might ask you to get quotes and then send you a cheque for their proportion when the work's been done.