hail storm damage to car port roof.Shoul i claim?

sue23

Hello all,
We have had the roof of our car port damaged from the severe hail storm yesterday. It has left several holes on the roof and it will need replacing.Now i am no sure how much this would cost.It is a long car port that accomodates 2 cars.Should i claim this of the home insurance? or doing so would increase my premium.I have never had to claim for building insurance before and i don't know what to do.Haven't notified my insurers yet.Please advice on what i should do?

rs65

First thing to do is find out how much the repairs will be. Then look at your policy and see how much your excess is.

sue23

rs65 wrote: »

First thing to do is find out how much the repairs will be. Then look at your policy and see how much your excess is.

Thanks for the reply.Do you think I Should let my insurers know anyway incase the quote turns out to be expensive? and will this sort of claim push the premium up?

rs65

It may push premiums up. You could do anonymous quotes on a comparison site to see the difference.

I wouldn't tell them unless I was claiming - it will be recorded and therefore declarable for years.

Don't leave it too long though. Check your policy to see what it says about timescales for notifying claims.

muppet610

Technically any losses should be reported to your insurer as per the terms of your contract.

In reality you need to get an estimate for the damage and then decide whether it is worth claiming bearing in mind your excess and loss of claim free discount (which can be as my much as 35%).

Nb any claim reported to any insurer will appear on the Claims and Underwriting Exchange so is disclosable to any new insurer even if you choose not to pursue the claim.