Hello,

Just after some advice on this one

A week ago we noticed water coming down the chimney. Sent a roofer up and he said that the pointing had gone. He went on to say that a number of the tiles had been damaged. He charged an extra £400 for this repair. He put it down as storm damage and said that I can claim through my house insurance.

Contacted the insurance and they said that there has not been severe enough winds in the last couple of weeks and also its in the small print that a roof has to be maintained to keep its strength.

We did have strong winds and I think that can be proved with newspaper reports but saying that a roof has to be maintained seems a bit harsh they could say that about any item that breaks and looks like a get out clause.

For the sake of £400 and an honest claim I cant believe that they are being so awkward and risk losing custom.

Am I stuck or are there any options?

Thanks very much

I don't find it at all unacceptable that an insurer should expect a house to be kept in good repair. that seems perfectly normal to me.

The failed pointing suggests a lack of maintenance in that area. Therefore if you are claiming for damage caused by water ingress, I would have thought that the insurer was in the right - even if the initial ingress was because of tiles damaged by wind.

If you are claiming for damage to the tiles from the wind then you will have to argue your case hard. get some weather - wind strength reports for your area and then be prepared to contact the insurance ombudsman. If you have the broken tiles, then you should be able to show that the break is recent and is not the result of some wear and tear problem which has developed over years.

You are right that the maintenance requirement could be used as a get out clause. Insurance companies are easily capable of that but on the other hand it is not at all unreasonable for an insurer to expect a home owner to defend their property against fair wear and tear.

Thanks for the advice suppose the best outcome would be that insurance pay out for the tiles and obviously we would pay for the repointing

get another quote at least.

for a few tiles IMO would not claim, you probably have an excess and your premium will go up subsatatially if you claim; also you wont be able to switch insurers if you have claimed in the last two years, some are three.