Storm damage and home insurance

Storm damage and home insurance

With back-to-back storms battering the UK recently, insurers face a nine-figure clean-up bill, with an average claim estimated at £3,500. However, many claims are significantly higher, running to tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds. In terms of pure financial cost, most homeowners usually expect their personal exposure to be limited to their insurance policy excess. Some, though, are not as fortunate. Here’s what you should know about storm damage and home insurance.

What is an insurance policy excess?

An insurance policy excess is an amount (if any) you must contribute if you claim on your policy. It reflects you accepting a small proportion of the risk. From the insurance company’s point of view, an excess discourages you from making small claims. But in so doing it also helps reduce the policy premium.

Whether the policy covers buildings, contents, or both, it probably includes more than one policy excess. This is because home insurance policies cover a number of distinct risks bundled together, including optional extras. Common examples of risks that stand alone within the policy are bicycles, frozen food, trees and plants, and cash. Each of them is likely to carry its own excess.

Many policies allow you to adjust the amount of your excess(es) when taking out the policy. Reducing an excess raises your policy premium and vice versa.

Level of insurance cover

Many people with home insurance policies are underinsured. This is not so much of a problem for buildings insurance as the level of reinstatement cover is often either unlimited or sufficiently high; £1 million is not uncommon.

However, you should always take particular care when choosing the level of cover required for your possessions. Valuables (including jewellery) and bicycles are common examples of risks that people underinsure. Also, it’s wise to check your policy carefully. People often assume the policy covers certain items that are, in fact, expressly excluded.

Reducing your level of cover reduces your policy premium, which can be tempting – until, of course, you need to make a claim. In addition to the level of cover, various factors affect the amount of your premium, including the nature or location of your property and your claims history.

Tenants

If you rent your home, you will not usually be responsible for buildings insurance, which is a matter for your landlord. However, around one in three adults do not have contents insurance, meaning they are completely uninsured for their possessions. Evidence suggests that more tenants than homeowners are without contents cover; some mistakenly believe their landlord’s policy covers them.

Cars damaged in a storm

Storms frequently damage cars. Comprehensive car insurance policies should cover storm damage, but claims may affect your no-claims discount if not protected. Also, ensure you have windscreen cover. If you have third-party cover only, damage to your car will not be covered unless you can prove the damage was the fault of somebody else and make a claim against them. For example, perhaps a roof tile from your neighbour’s poorly maintained roof fell onto your car.

Does house insurance cover storm damage to fences?

Although most home insurance policies offer some level of weather and storm damage cover, there are some exclusions to be aware of. Typically, for example, policies exclude damage to fences, gates and hedges unless, perhaps, a tree branch has fallen and damaged a fence.

Storm damage insurance definition

You should also be aware that it can be difficult to prove the damage was caused by a storm. This is because when it comes to insurance, storms must fall within a certain definition to be treated as such. Some insurers use local weather data to assess the conditions at the time of the damage.

The Beaufort Scale is a measure for describing the intensity of the wind. A force 9 (“strong/severe gale”) requires a wind speed of between 47 and 54 miles per hour. According to the scale, at this intensity, you might expect “slight structural damage (chimney pots and slates removed)”. However, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) do not consider it a storm unless the wind speed reaches 55 miles an hour (the threshold for force 10). At that speed, the scale says we can expect “trees uprooted and considerable structural damage”. In addition to wind speed, the ABI also define a storm as:

• Torrential rainfall at a rate of at least 25mm per hour; or
• Snow to a depth of at least one foot (30 cm) in 24 hours; or
• Hail of such intensity that it causes damage to hard surfaces or breaks glass.

But not all insurers stick rigidly to these definitions. Some consider the damage caused in less severe conditions, particularly for isolated properties. You may even be fortunate and find that your insurer will consider your individual circumstances.

If your policy does not cover accidental damage, the policy is unlikely to protect you if, for example, a tree branch falls on your house a week after a storm. This is because although the storm may have weakened the branch, it may not necessarily have caused it to fall.

Insurance won t pay for roof damage

It’s not unusual for claims to be rejected if the insurer believes the policyholder failed to maintain their property to avoid “wear and tear”. For example, would slates have fallen if the policyholder had repaired the roof before the storm? If so, they may either reject the claim or offer a reduced amount.

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s understandable that the Financial Ombudsman is often called upon to arbitrate in disputes.

What can I claim for storm damage?

If your insurer accepts the claim, they should cover the cost of any necessary repairs, prioritising urgent work, preventing further damage or making the property safe. After any urgent work, the insurer and surveyor will agree on a schedule of works, with an approximate timetable.

If the damage means your home is uninhabitable, most reputable policies cover alternative accommodation. Initially, that means hotel costs, but then in a longer-term for longer rectification works. They should also pay storage costs for your belongings.

With possessions, expect a request for evidence of both the extent of the damage and the item’s value. Thereafter, be prepared to negotiate!