Question answered
What counts as a storm for home insurance?
The short answer
For home insurance a storm is whatever your policy says it is, and Which? says insurers commonly build in a gust test of at least 55 miles an hour. The Financial Ombudsman Service pictures a storm as violent wind, normally bringing rain, hail or snow, and asks whether one occurred, whether the damage fits, and whether weather was chiefly responsible.
Insurers do not treat every windy day as a storm. Your policy defines one, and whether roof damage qualifies turns on that wording and on what really caused the damage.
A definition written into your policy
No single legal meaning of storm binds every home insurer. Each policy sets out its own wording, and that wording is what decides whether a claim for a damaged roof can succeed. In November 2025 Which? noted that insurers commonly rely on the storm definition produced by the insurers' trade body, which includes gusts of at least 55 miles an hour.
That threshold matters because plenty of damaging weather falls beneath it. A strong breeze can still lift a tile that was already loose, and an insurer may then argue the roof was in poor condition rather than overwhelmed. Read the definition in your own policy document, not a summary of it, and look for the words storm, tempest and weather in the schedule of cover.
If the wording is unclear, ask the insurer in writing how they apply it to your date of loss, and file their answer safely.
How the Ombudsman tests a storm claim
When a storm claim is refused and the customer complains, the Financial Ombudsman Service works through three set questions. Did a storm occur on the day of the damage? Is the damage the kind a storm would generally cause? And did the wind and rain do the harm, or might it have occurred regardless?
Where an insurer points to an exclusion in the small print, it must prove that the exclusion applies. The burden sits with the company, not with you.
These questions are useful at the very start of a claim, not only at the end of a dispute. Gather evidence that answers each of them as you go: what the weather did on the date, how the damage is spread across the roof, and what condition the roof was in beforehand. A roof that was sound last month and has clean breaks today tells a clear story.
Why gradual damage is treated differently
Many policies do not cover wear that built up gradually, and the Ombudsman confirms such exclusions are common. A roof that has been shedding mortar, slipping tiles or letting in damp for months has not been struck by a storm; it has worn out. Which? offers a roof that lets water in because nobody maintained it as the textbook example of an excluded cause. Insurers will look closely at moss, rust and old staining for that reason.
This is where a roofer's written findings earn their place. A fresh break, a tile on the lawn and a bright fracture surface suggest sudden damage. Thick moss, rusted nails and old stains on the loft timbers suggest the opposite. The page on making a storm damage insurance claim shows how the argument runs in practice.
A survey simply reports what is there, whichever way that falls for the claim, and it is better to know early than to be surprised by a refusal.
Making a claim easier to assess
No claim is certain: Which? quoted the regulator's numbers, under which just 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 ended in a payout. What you control is how easy yours is to follow. Jot down the date and the weather, take your pictures before anything is moved, and report the damage promptly.
Put the damage and the date side by side, so the insurer can compare them with the conditions that day. If tiles have blown off, roof tiles blown off in the wind shows what to record. If water has reached electrics, read leaks near light fittings first, because safety comes before paperwork.
Keep a copy of every message you send, with the names and dates of phone calls. A tidy file saves time if a loss adjuster or an Ombudsman case officer later asks what was said and when.
If the insurer says it was not a storm
Begin by complaining to the insurer itself. Should the insurer take longer than eight weeks to give a final answer, or the answer disappoints you, the Ombudsman can take the case. You must bring it within six months of the insurer's final response letter, and using the service costs nothing. Diarise both dates the day the letter arrives.
Ask for the decision in writing, naming the policy clause relied on and the evidence behind it. Who fixes a leaking roof explains how repairs fit around a claim, and the emergency roof repairs overview shows what we can do while the argument continues.
A roofer can describe what was found and photograph it. Whether the claim is paid is for the insurer and, if you complain, the Ombudsman. Our part is to give you an accurate picture of the roof.
Storm wording questions
Does wind below the gust threshold mean my roof damage is not a storm?
Not automatically. The gust wording is one definition many insurers use, but your own policy decides, and the Ombudsman looks at the facts of the case. If a claim is refused on wind speed alone, ask what weather data the insurer used for your location and date, and ask for it in writing.
Who decides if damage was a storm or just wear and tear?
The insurer decides first, using the policy and any report from its own assessor. If you disagree, you complain to them and then to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which applies its set questions. Dated photographs and a roofer's report are the evidence that carries weight.
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