Question answered
Are free roof inspections worth having?
The short answer
A free roof inspection is worth having when it ends with images of your own roof plus a written price, and nobody pushes you to decide on the spot. Be wary of unsolicited callers who say they spotted damage from the street. For most contracts signed at your home, you have 14 days to cancel.
A free look at your roof can be a fair way to get a job priced, or the opening line of a doorstep sales pitch. The difference shows in what you are handed afterwards and how much pressure comes with it.
Two very different kinds of free
The first kind is a survey you asked for. You phone, a roofer comes to the address and looks at the roof, the loft and the gutters, using whichever of ladder, camera pole or drone suits the house. The visit costs nothing because the quote is where the business comes from, and the findings should be useful to you whether or not you give them the job.
The second kind is an approach you did not ask for. Someone knocks after a storm and says tiles have slipped, lead has gone or the chimney is leaning. They offer to go up and check, with no charge. A stranger on your roof holding a phone camera controls what you get to see.
Both get called free inspections. The difference is who started the contact, and what you are left holding at the end. Ask yourself whether you invited the visit, and whether you can check what you were told without relying on the visitor.
What a worthwhile free inspection leaves you with
Look for four things. First, images taken on your own roof, showing the problem and the area around it, never stock pictures. They should be sharp enough for you to recognise the chimney, the ridge or the gable they show. Second, a plain explanation of the cause, such as a lifted flashing or a cracked verge, instead of a general warning that the roof is failing. Third, a written quote with one total figure, sent once the survey is finished. Fourth, the option of doing less: the smallest repair that properly cures the fault.
You should be able to read the findings in your own time, show them to someone else and ask for a second view. If the information exists only on the visitor's phone or in a conversation, you have nothing to compare, and nothing to hold anyone to later. Ask for it to be sent to you in writing.
It is also fair to ask how long the visit will take, which how long a roof survey takes covers, and what method will be used. Nobody needs to climb onto the roof unless the inspection really calls for it.
Warning signs on the doorstep
Pressure is the clearest sign. Watch for claims that the job must happen today, that materials are left over from another job or that the price goes up tomorrow. Take care with anyone who will not give a name, a landline or a company address, or who asks for cash up front.
Pictures are another test. A caller who shows you an image of a damaged roof may have taken it at a different address. Ask for views you can match to your own chimney, ridge or gable, and take your own with a phone zoom from the garden. Our guide to checking a roof from the ground shows what you can see without any help.
Do not agree to any work during the same visit. Take the findings, say you will think it over and get a second view. A genuine fault will still be there tomorrow, and a sound roofer will not mind you waiting. Storm weather makes this harder to do, because worry is high and callers know it; a make-safe job for an obvious hazard is one thing, but a full replacement agreed on the doorstep is another.
Your rights if you do sign
A contract made at your home normally carries a 14-day cancellation period. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a services customer until the end of 14 days after the day the contract was made, with no reason needed.
Where the trader never supplied the cancellation details the law requires, the window can stretch by as much as 12 months. A start inside the 14 days needs your express request in a form you can keep, such as a letter or a message you can save, and if you then cancel you pay a fair share for the work already done.
One exception matters. If you phoned and specifically asked for a visit to carry out an urgent repair, the cancellation rules do not cover that repair, although anything extra sold during the same visit still falls inside them.
Keep the quote, the pictures and any messages, and note the date and time of the visit. And if you want a view that comes with no sales interest at all, read whether to pay for a roof inspection. The wider section is under roof inspections and surveys, where you will also find guidance on what a roofer checks and how a written survey differs from a quote.
Free checks: two more questions
Is a free drone check of my roof reliable?
A drone shows the surface clearly and keeps people off the slope, so it is good for spotting slipped tiles or a damaged ridge. It cannot look into the loft or under laps, so it works best alongside a ground check. Our page on drone versus ladder surveys compares the methods.
What if I already agreed to work after a doorstep visit?
Check the paperwork for a cancellation notice and the date. You may still be inside the 14 days, and you can cancel in writing. If work has begun, you may owe only a proportionate amount. The Citizens Advice consumer helpline can advise on a dispute.
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.