Question answered
Is accidental roof damage covered by insurance?
The short answer
Accidental roof damage is covered only if your policy includes accidental damage cover, which is often an optional extra on buildings insurance. Even then it normally excludes wear and tear, slow deterioration and poor workmanship. Check the schedule and wording, tell your insurer promptly and do not arrange permanent repairs until you have spoken to them.
Standard buildings cover deals mainly with named events such as storm or fire. Accidental damage is often a separate add-on, and what it leaves out matters as much as what it includes.
What counts as accidental damage
Accidental damage means sudden, unintended harm that is not one of the named insured events. A ladder hitting the tiles, a satellite engineer stepping through a roof light, a branch from your own tree or a ball through a glazed lean-to are typical examples. The common thread is that nobody meant it and no storm was involved.
Damage from a tradesperson's own work, from vandalism or from an object thrown into the garden may fall under different headings in the policy, so the label the insurer attaches to the event matters. Describe what happened plainly and in order, and avoid guessing at causes you have not seen.
Many buildings policies cover fire, storm, flood and impact by a vehicle as standard, but treat accidental damage as an extra. That is why two homeowners with similar roof damage can get different answers. One is covered because the event was a storm; the other is refused because the cause was a slip and the extra was never added.
Look at your policy schedule for the words accidental damage, and read the definitions to see whether the roof, rooflights and conservatory are included. Our page on making a storm damage insurance claim covers the storm route, and the main emergency roof repairs section covers the urgent side.
What accidental damage cover tends to leave out
Exclusions are where claims fail. The usual ones are wear and tear, damage that crept up over time, and faulty workmanship or design. Which? uses a leak through a roof left in poor repair as its wear-and-tear example, and the Financial Ombudsman Service points out that gradual damage is commonly excluded.
The Ombudsman adds that when an insurer relies on an exclusion, it must prove the exclusion applies. So a refusal naming a cause without evidence can be questioned. If you are in that position, what to do when a roof claim is rejected sets out the route.
Policies may also exclude roofs in poor condition, set a higher excess for accidents, or limit cover for items such as roof windows. Read the exclusions page itself rather than the summary leaflet, since summaries leave most of these out. If a term is unclear, ask the insurer to explain it in writing.
It also pays to know your excess. Check the excess that applies to an accidental damage claim, because a modest repair can sit below it, in which case the claim would cost you a record on your file for no payment.
Damage caused by workmen or contractors
If a builder, chimney sweep, aerial fitter or another roofer damaged the roof, your first thought might be the insurer. In practice the person who caused it is often the first call. Their work should meet the standard of reasonable care and skill that the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires of a service, and the remedies include repeat performance, which means doing the work again at no charge.
Photograph the damage at once, ideally with the person present, and ask them to put their account in writing. Do not agree a quick fix on the doorstep. Whether their cover or yours responds is a question for the insurers, so tell yours about the incident as well.
A roofer can describe what is wrong and show you the evidence. Liability is for the parties and their insurers to settle, and a clear photographic record of the roof before and after makes that conversation easier. Dated pictures from earlier visits to the house, if you have any, also help show the roof's previous condition.
Protecting the roof while it is decided
Water does not wait for a claim decision. A temporary cover is the usual first step, and the details are in how long a roof tarp can stay on. For a lead strip lifted or torn in a mishap, see lead flashing blown off.
Keep every receipt, record the damage before and after, and ask the insurer in writing before permanent work begins. If the damage looks small, whether a roof leak is worth claiming helps you set the excess and any change to later premiums against the cost of mending it yourself.
For a typical UK repair, MyBuilder (updated 21 August 2026) lists £150 to £1,500, which is useful context when the excess on a policy is a few hundred pounds. Our own quote reaches you in writing once the roof has been surveyed.
If you decide to pay for the repair yourself, ask for the findings in writing anyway. They are a record you can keep with the house papers.
Accidental roof damage: two more questions
Does buildings insurance cover a ladder or workman going through the roof?
Only if the policy includes accidental damage and the wording does not exclude the cause. Basic cover may not. Check the schedule, and also ask the person responsible whether their own cover, or their duty to carry out the work with reasonable care and skill, comes into play.
Will my insurer pay if the roof was already worn when the accident happened?
It may argue that the wear, not the accident, was the main cause, or reduce the claim. Evidence of the roof's condition before the incident helps, such as an earlier survey or dated photographs. A roofer's written findings can say what was sound and what was not.
Tell us about your roof
Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.
- Photographs of what we find
- A written quote with one total price
- Or call 01903 299063
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.