Buildings insurance normally covers storm damage. The difficulty in Maesteg is a specific one, and it is not about wind: it is the line between damage a storm caused and water that has been getting in quietly for a while.
We are roofers, not insurance advisers. What follows describes how buildings policies commonly work, so you know what to ask. It is not advice about your policy and not a prediction about your claim. Your insurer and your policy wording are the only authority on what you are covered for.
Almost every buildings policy excludes gradual causes: wear and tear, deterioration over time, and damage that has developed slowly rather than happening in an event. That is not a trick clause, it is what makes insurance insurance — it covers accidents, not maintenance.
In a wet valley that exclusion has more edges than it does elsewhere, because so much of what goes wrong with roofs here IS gradual. A valley gutter that has been filling with moss for three years. A stack that has been absorbing water all winter. A lap that has been letting a little through in every prolonged downpour since last spring.
None of those are storm damage, however dramatic the night they finally became obvious.
The useful distinction is between a roof that was doing its job until a specific event stopped it, and a roof that had been quietly failing and reached the point of being noticed.
A storm can genuinely convert the second into the first. A valley that was coping until a storm filled it with debris, or a flashing that was tired until wind lifted it, is a real storm claim. What matters is being able to describe what the storm actually DID, specifically, rather than pointing at a storm and hoping.
It is a defined term rather than an ordinary word, commonly a wind speed threshold and sometimes a rate of rainfall or hail. Weather below it is not a storm for policy purposes.
The rainfall limb matters here more than it does on the coast. Where a claim is about water volume rather than wind — a valley overwhelmed, a gutter defeated — it is the rainfall rate on the day that may decide whether it qualifies, and valley rainfall figures can differ substantially from the nearest coastal station.
Because the gradual exclusion is the live issue, evidence that the roof was being looked after is the most useful thing you can have.
A roof with a maintenance history is a materially different proposition from one nobody has looked at in thirty years, and that difference is exactly what a loss adjuster is weighing when they decide whether something was sudden or gradual.
Most policies expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, so making the roof safe is generally fine and should be invoiced separately. The permanent repair is better held until they have said what they need.
It happens, and it is not necessarily the end of it.
What we can do is describe accurately what we found and why. What we cannot do is argue the claim for you or tell you the decision was wrong — we have not seen your policy and it is not our expertise.
We inspect, identify the work and provide a written quotation describing the defect specifically. Where a storm caused it we will say so. Where a storm overwhelmed something that had been deteriorating, we will describe both, because that is what happened and because it is the version that survives being examined.
What we will not do is describe long-standing ingress as storm damage. It does not hold up, and once one part of a claim looks inaccurate an adjuster looks harder at everything else. You are the one left dealing with that.
T & T Roofing South Wales quotes free and without obligation across Maesteg and the Llynfi Valley, for insurance work and otherwise.
That can still be a valid claim, but it needs describing accurately: what the storm actually did, as distinct from what was already happening. Insurers exclude gradual causes, so the specifics matter more than the storm's name.
Many policies define a storm by rainfall or hail rate as well as wind speed. Say explicitly that the claim is about rainfall, because it changes which threshold applies.
Because the exclusion they are testing is gradual deterioration. Receipts, reports and records of gutters being cleared are worth digging out — a maintained roof is a materially different case.
We will write what we found. If a storm overwhelmed something that had been deteriorating, the quotation will describe both, because that is the version that survives a loss adjuster.
Storm damage in Maesteg? T & T Roofing South Wales will assess the roof, explain what needs repairing and give you a free, no-obligation quotation. Storm Damage Roof Repairs Maesteg has the full detail, or call us on 07766 547309.
Tell us what the weather has done and what you can see from the ground. We will come back to you — usually the same day.
If water is coming in now, please call rather than email — 07766 547309.
