What counts as a storm for home insurance?

Calling something a storm in conversation is easy. For an insurer it is a technical label, and storm damage is usually one of the named risks a policy covers, separate from other causes such as wear, rot or poor workmanship. If the weather on the day does not meet the definition, the insurer can argue that the loss does not fall under the storm section at all.

In a November 2025 article, Which? said many insurers lean on the Association of British Insurers' definition, in which a storm covers wind gusts reaching 55mph or more. Other conditions are usually listed alongside it, such as torrential rain or heavy snow and hail. That is a reported summary, not your policy, so rely on your own policy documents for the exact test your insurer uses.

The wording differs between insurers. Find the section headed storm, flood or weather and read the definition and the exclusions that sit under it.

If you disagree with an insurer's decision, you complain to the insurer first. When you have no final response after eight weeks, or you are unhappy with the one you receive, the next step is a referral to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Its published guidance on storm damage lists the main questions it works through.

First, did a storm happen on the date the damage was caused? Second, is the damage consistent with what is generally seen after a storm? Third, was the wind or rain what really caused the loss, or was another factor at work that could have brought the same result?

The third question is the one that decides many roof disputes. A strong wind can lift a tile that is in perfect order, and it can also be the last push for a tile held by rusted nails. A complaint has little prospect where the covering was already tired and long known to be so, or when the weather merely revealed a defect that had been developing. Our page on roof tiles blown off looks at what that means for a slipped or missing tile.

Roofs are exposed, so they take the first hit, and the damage they show is the easiest to see from the street. Ridge tiles lift, flashings peel, slates slip and fascia boards come away. That damage is easy to blame on a gust, but a gust below the threshold may not count.

If winds on the night of the damage reached the policy's threshold, that helps. If they were lower, the insurer may argue the roof failed because of age rather than weather. Evidence of the actual conditions therefore counts, and it is worth saving a weather report for the date, a news item about the storm and any neighbour's observations of damage on the same street.

Which? also cited Financial Conduct Authority data showing that only 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 ended in a payout. That does not tell you what will happen to yours, but it shows why the details of evidence and policy wording matter.

Standard policies commonly leave out wear and tear, and gradual damage. Which? gives one example: a house where rain gets in because the roof was not looked after. A roof that has lost mortar from the ridge, or has flashing that corroded over years, may let in rain in an ordinary shower, and an insurer will say no storm was needed.

That does not make a storm claim impossible on an older roof. A sound but elderly roof can still be damaged by a violent gust, and what matters is whether the wind itself did the damage. A written report from a roofer, with photographs showing the condition of what remains, helps establish that. Our page on a roof leak near electrics explains what to do first if water is involved, long before any argument about cover.

A dispute over the definition can take weeks. The roof cannot wait that long, so emergency work is sometimes needed before cover is settled. Speak to the insurer first where you can, hold on to receipts and limit the work to what stops further damage. Our pages on temporary roof repairs and out-of-hours roofer costs cover how that works and what it tends to cost.

Photograph the roof before and after any make-safe. A short note from the roofer on the condition of the covering, the fixings and the timbers underneath gives the insurer something solid to read, and it costs little compared with a rejected claim. Keep that note with the weather record, the receipts and your own dated pictures in one folder.

We do not make claims on your behalf, and we cannot say whether an insurer will accept a storm as the cause. What we can offer is an on-site look at the roof, a set of photographs of the damage and a written price for putting it right. Handing those to your insurer is your choice. If a small repair is all that is needed, we recommend that, and our workmanship guarantee runs for 10 years in writing.

The emergency roof repairs page explains how we deal with storm damage and leaks from the first call.