Your roof leak might be covered by your home insurance, especially if it’s explicitly stated in your terms and conditions. However, even if your home insurance does cover roof leaks, it will usually only cover certain types of leaks.

Home insurance is designed to protect you against costs that arise in emergency situations, such as a bad storm or burst pipe. If your roof leak happened suddenly after a bought of bad weather or due to a tree branch falling on your home, your home insurance will likely cover the repairs.

However, if your roof leak is due to a lack of maintenance or just general damage that has occurred over the course of many years, your home insurance policy is unlikely to accept your claim. This is because it’s your job to make sure your home is in good working order and replacing or mending your roof is considered routine maintenance.

Yes, there are a number of reasons your home insurance provider may reject your claim for a leaking roof. For example, even if your roof began leaking after a storm, if your roof was poorly maintained and was already in a state of disrepair, your home insurer may refuse to pay out. You will need to make sure you understand your home insurance fully before making a claim and gather any evidence you need to support it.

If your roof leak is an emergency and is causing water to rapidly enter your home, you can call a contractor to come out and perform the repair. As long as you have enough evidence to support the need for a quick fix, your home insurer should understand that you couldn’t wait to have the repair approved through them first. If the emergency is so severe that you can’t stay in your home, your home insurance provider may even cover the costs of a hotel or rental property if you have alternative accommodation cover.

Not every home insurance policy covers the same types of damage. The type of damage your policy will cover will depend on whether you have buildings insurance, contents insurance or combined cover.

Buildings insurance is what will pay for emergency roof repairs, but it won’t cover the damage any leaking water does to your furniture or décor. To have this covered, you’ll need contents insurance as well. Contents insurance covers almost all your belongings, but some particularly valuable items, such as laptops or phones, may be exempt. To insure these items, you may have to take out additional cover or upgrade your policy.

However, if your roof leak damages the structure of your walls rather than just the paintwork, buildings insurance should pay to have these repairs fixed. For example, if your roof leak occurred while you were away for a week and your walls were completely damp, they may need more extensive repairs.

A roof leak in a rented house is the landlord’s responsibility to repair. Tenants don’t need to take out buildings insurance for properties they don’t own, as these costs fall to the landlord. However, your landlord usually won’t be responsible for damage to your belongings as a result of a roof leak (unless the leak was caused by their own negligence), which is where a contents insurance policy for renters comes in.

You should be able to claim for damages to your furniture or belongings through your contents insurance, but be sure to collect evidence of the leak as well as the damage that occurred to your belongings. This will help your insurer to understand exactly what happened.

Home insurance works in a similar way for flats as it does for houses. If you’re renting, your landlord will need to repair any leaks and if you own your flat as a freeholder, your home insurance may cover your roof leak depending on its cause. However, if you own your flat as a leaseholder, repairing a roof leak may not fall to you. Check the details of your lease agreement and find the individual that’s responsible for maintaining your building before arranging any repairs yourself.