Does home insurance cover roof leaks?

What is actually covered?

The distinction insurers draw is between a sudden event and a gradual condition.

Covered, typically: wind tearing shingles off, hail fracturing the shingle mat, a tree or branch striking the roof, weight of ice or snow causing collapse, and a sudden accidental discharge such as a burst pipe in the attic.

Excluded, typically: shingles that have simply reached the end of their life, granule loss from age, deterioration around a cracked pipe boot that has been failing for years, poor original workmanship, and damage that is worse than it needed to be because a known problem went unrepaired.

That last one matters more than people expect. If a leak was reported to you months ago and you did nothing, the insurer may cover the storm damage and decline the mould and rot that grew while it went untreated.

What does the adjuster actually look for?

Evidence of a discrete event, and evidence of its date.

On hail, they look for bruising — soft, dented spots where the impact fractured the shingle mat, felt as much as seen. Bruising is functional damage. Marks that scuff the surface without compromising the mat are usually classed as cosmetic, and cosmetic damage is excluded under most policies.

On wind, they look for creasing across a tab, torn or missing shingles, and lifted tabs where the sealant broke. Uniform curling across the whole roof reads as age, not wind.

They will also check whether the damage direction is consistent with the storm, and cross-reference the reported date against weather data.

We are not going to tell you how yours will go. Coverage turns on your specific policy language, your state’s regulation, the adjuster’s findings, and facts we do not have. Anyone on the internet who tells you your claim will be approved has not read your policy.

Why is the cheque smaller than the estimate?

Because two things came off it: depreciation and your deductible.

The adjuster writes a replacement cost figure — what it costs to replace the roof today. If your policy pays actual cash value, they subtract depreciation for the roof’s age and wear, then subtract your deductible, and that is the first cheque.

On a replacement cost policy the withheld depreciation is recoverable: the carrier releases it once the work is completed and documented. On an actual cash value policy it is not recoverable at all and the first cheque is the entire payment. Which one you have is written in your policy and is worth finding out before a storm rather than after.

The claim value estimator walks through the arithmetic with your own numbers.

What about my deductible?

Check whether your wind and hail deductible is a flat dollar amount or a percentage — they behave very differently.

A percentage deductible is a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit, not of the claim. Two percent on a $400,000 dwelling is $8,000 before the insurer pays anything. On a $14,000 roof claim, that changes the entire calculation about whether to file.

One thing to be unambiguous about: a contractor offering to waive, absorb, or eat your deductible is proposing insurance fraud. Many states have explicit statutes on it, and it exposes you as the policyholder, not only the contractor. It is the most common pitch in post-storm door-knocking and almost nobody names it plainly.

Should I file a claim at all?

That is your decision, and there are real tradeoffs in both directions.

Filing costs you the deductible and puts a claim on your record. Some carriers non-renew after claims, particularly repeat claims in hail-prone regions, and a non-renewal can make coverage harder and more expensive to replace. Filing a claim that comes in below your deductible achieves nothing at all except the record.

Not filing means paying for the work yourself, and means an unrepaired roof may complicate a later claim on the grounds that you failed to maintain it.

We are not going to push you either way. We do not sell roofs and we do not sell leads, which is precisely why we can lay this out without a preferred answer.

What if it is denied?

A denial is not necessarily the end. Read the denial letter for the specific reason cited — cosmetic damage, wear and tear, a maintenance exclusion, or a scope disagreement are all different problems with different responses.

Your options generally include asking for a re-inspection, providing your own documentation, invoking the appraisal clause if your policy has one, hiring a licensed public adjuster, and filing a complaint with your state department of insurance. Public adjuster licensing and fee caps are set by state law and vary widely — verify both with your state department before signing anything.

Common mistakes

• Letting a contractor file the claim for you. Report the loss yourself. You want to be the one with the claim number and the direct relationship with your carrier.
• Not knowing which kind of deductible you have. Find out now, not on the day. The difference between a $1,000 flat deductible and 2 percent of dwelling can be seven thousand dollars.
• Taking the first cheque and not doing the work. On an RCV policy you forfeit the recoverable depreciation. That is your money, left on the table.
• Signing a contingency agreement before the adjuster has been out. You may be committed to a contractor before you know the scope, the price, or whether the claim is approved at all.
• Assuming a cosmetic finding is final. It may be, but the finding rests on the adjuster’s assessment of a specific roof on a specific day, and re-inspection exists.