The short answer
It depends on three things: whether the repair costs more than your excess, whether a claim would cost you a no-claims discount or push up next year's premium, and whether your insurer will treat the leak as wear and tear. A small repair on an old roof often sits below the excess, while storm damage that the policy covers can be worth reporting.
Start with the excess
Your excess is the amount you pay towards any claim before the insurer pays anything. It is printed on your policy schedule, and many policies set a separate, often higher, figure for particular risks. If the repair is likely to cost £300 and your excess is £250, the most you could recover is £50, and that is before any other effect on your policy.
So get a rough idea of the cost first. MyBuilder's repair guide, updated in August 2026, bands minor repairs at £100 to £300, moderate ones at £500 to £1,000 and storm fixes at £500 to £1,500. Those are national figures. They show why a loose tile or a small flashing repair often lands below the excess, while a larger storm repair can comfortably exceed it. A rough idea of the likely cost also helps you judge any insurer's offer, and you can compare it with a written quote from a roofer once the roof has been looked at.
Remember too that the repair is not the only cost. A leak that has soaked ceilings, carpets or plaster adds redecorating to the bill, and some of that may fall under contents or buildings cover. Make a list of every affected item with photographs before you start clearing up.
Does a claim affect what you pay later?
It can, and policies differ. Some insurers reduce a no-claims discount after any claim. Others record it and take it into account when quoting at renewal, even if you were not at fault and the claim was paid. Ask your insurer, before you submit anything, how a claim would be recorded and what the effect on next year's premium is likely to be. You will also be asked about earlier claims when you switch insurer, so a small one can follow you for some years.
That is not a reason to avoid claiming for damage you are properly covered for, since insurance exists for just that. It is a reason to weigh a minor repair carefully against the cost of making a claim.
The wear-and-tear problem
This is where many roof claims run into difficulty. Which? warned in November 2025 that a standard policy may exclude wear and tear, and gave the case of rain coming indoors because a roof had been neglected. It also cites FCA figures: only 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 ended in a payout. Read that as a prompt to check your cover first.
The Financial Ombudsman Service frames the question in three parts. Did a storm actually happen on the day of the damage? Is the pattern of damage what a storm usually leaves? And did the weather really cause the failure, or would it have happened anyway? Complaints struggle when the owner knew the roof was in poor shape beforehand, or when the storm simply uncovered an older fault. Our page on wear-and-tear claims goes further into this.
What helps a claim, and what does not
If you decide to claim, evidence matters. Photograph the damage, the stain and the date, and note when you first noticed the leak and the weather that day. The ABI advice published during Storm Eunice in 2022 urged householders to phone the insurer quickly, to hold off arranging any emergency repair until they had spoken to it, and to hang on to every receipt.
A temporary cover, such as a roof tarpaulin, is generally a reasonable step to limit further damage, and the receipt belongs in your file. Never bin broken tiles or damaged materials before the insurer has had the chance to see them, unless the insurer has said that is fine.
No roofer can say a claim will be accepted. What we can do is set out what we found, in writing and with pictures, so you have something solid to put in front of the insurer.
When paying yourself makes sense
A modest repair, an old roof with obvious wear, or a leak with no clear storm event behind it are all cases where paying directly may leave you better off. You avoid the paperwork, the wait and any mark on your record. If the cost is well above the excess, or the leak came from a sudden event such as a fallen branch or a storm, a claim deserves serious thought.
Two related pages help with the money side. Out-of-hours roofer costs explains how urgency affects the price, and flashing blown off a roof is one common storm repair that may fall near the excess.
Getting the facts before you decide
Ring your insurer and ask three questions: what is my excess for this type of claim, how will a claim be recorded, and does the policy cover this kind of damage. After that, a survey from us is the next step. We go up, photograph the fault, explain how it came about and set out the job in a written quote with one price. What we recommend is the lightest repair that will end the leak, and our work comes with a 10-year guarantee on paper. Telephone 01793 626096, send a WhatsApp or use the form on this page. The wider emergency roof repairs hub covers related situations.
One more point: if a leak seems to come and go, note the weather each time it appears. A pattern that follows wind direction suggests a defect on one slope, and that detail helps whoever looks at it, whether surveyor, loss adjuster or roofer.