Storm damage

Buildings insurance policies usually cover financial loss caused by storm damage.

We say that a storm generally involves violent winds, usually accompanied by rain, hail or snow. But in some cases we may find there’s a storm without there being high winds. There are occasions where rain, hail, or snowfall by itself can constitute storm. Any extreme form of bad weather has the potential to cause damage to a property.

Types of complaints we see

The complaints we get are usually where a claim has been declined because there’s a dispute about: 

• what actually constitutes a 'storm'
• whether the damage was caused by a storm

We also get complaints where the storm claim has been accepted but there’s a dispute about the repairs carried out to put the damage right. 

What we look at

When an insurance claim for damage caused during bad weather has been declined, there are three questions we ask:

• Do we agree that storm conditions occurred on or around the date the damage is said to have happened?
• Is the damage claimed for consistent with what we generally see as storm damage?
• Were storm conditions the main cause of the damage or were there other factors that meant the damage might have happened anyway?

To answer these questions, we’ll need to take into account:

• weather reports (official reports from a recognised weather database)
• the condition of the property
• information about the storm conditions in question, for example, what the customer tells us about the conditions they experienced

We’ll look at the policy wording too, bearing in mind that policies don’t always define what a storm is. In these cases, we’ll apply our own definition, which is that a storm generally involves violent winds, usually accompanied by rain, hail or snow.

Information about the weather 

We’ll need to be satisfied that there were storm conditions at the customer’s location at or around the time the damage happened. And we’re unlikely to be persuaded where a customer says the damage was caused by a storm ‘some time in the past’ or by general bad weather over time.

But we might uphold the complaint if we see evidence that there were a number of storms over a period and we decide that the damage was caused by one of these.

One way to measure wind speed, for example, is by using the Beaufort Scale, which uses a scale of 0 to 12. Some insurers say that only winds above a certain point on this scale are storm-force winds that could damage a building.

When we assess complaints, we take into account the Beaufort Scale measurements, particularly if that’s how the insurer defined ‘storm’ in the policy. But that’s not the only factor we’ll think about. We’ll carefully consider all the evidence to decide whether there was a storm around the time the damage occurred.

We’ll get local weather reports covering the period the storm is said to have occurred in so that we can assess the weather conditions at that time.

The Met Office names storms, which serves as a good indication that the weather conditions at the time were indeed classed as a storm. But we’ll still check the weather records from the time, to find out:

• if it was a storm
• how intense the storm was
• where the storm was in relation to the insured property

Although weather stations could be a few miles from the customer’s property, they can provide useful evidence of weather conditions in the area at that time. The actual weather experienced by the customer could be a bit different from that recorded at the weather station.

Sometimes we’ll look at reports from more than one weather station to understand what sort of conditions the customer’s property is likely to have experienced.

So it’s about getting the fullest picture.

If the customer doesn’t know when the damage happened, because they were away or the damage wasn’t noticeable straightaway, it’s reasonable to look further back in the records. 

Snow, rain and hail storms

We sometimes receive complaints about insurance claims for damage caused by snow, rain or hail. We consider a storm in the these circumstances to be when:

• high volumes of snow, rain or hail falls over a relatively short period of time
• the snow, rain or hail is extreme

The impact of snow falling rarely leads to a problem. Damage to property is usually caused because of the weight of the snow once it’s settled, such as a collapsed roof.

In these cases, we’ll look at whether the damage was consistent with a snowstorm or related to maintenance issues.

Read a case study about snowstorms. 

Handling a complaint like this

You’re under a duty to handle claims promptly and fairly and so it’s really important that you carry out a reasonable and timely investigation.

Remember, if you’re relying on an exclusion then you must show that the exclusion applies.

For example, if you think a flat roof has deteriorated, then you need to provide evidence to support this. Sometimes we see reports where the roof hasn’t been inspected properly and the insurer has relied on an aerial photo. Unless the photo clearly shows deterioration, and this is explained in the report, then we may not be persuaded that you’ve shown the exclusion fairly applies.

Putting things right

If we uphold a complaint, we can direct you to do something to resolve the issue or tell you what we think you should pay. 

For example, for complaints about declined claims, we could tell you to reconsider the storm damage claim and deal with it in line with the policy terms and conditions. If any payment is due, we’ll usually add simple interest at 8% annually from the date of the loss to the date the claim is settled.

If the complaint is about the repairs carried out to fix storm damage, we could tell you to pay for further work to be done.

We’ll tell you to pay compensation if we decide that the claim has caused the customer distress or inconvenience because of the way you handled it.

Resources

The Met Office storm centre: Find out the latest information about storms in the UK as part of The Met Office’s Name our Storms project.