A storm broke Iris’s roof tiles but her insurer said her policy didn’t cover the damage because the wind speed hadn’t been high enough.
What happened
After a storm damaged some roof tiles at the front of Iris’s house, she called her insurer to make a claim.
Her insurer declined the claim, saying it would only consider storm damage claims if there were Beaufort scale wind speeds of level ten and above in her area. Level ten on this scale is between 55 and 63 miles per hour.
Iris didn’t think this was fair. Whatever the wind’s exact speed, it was strong enough to cause the damage, and she thought her policy should cover it. She complained, but her insurer repeated its original decision.
It told Iris that the damage to her roof was caused by gradual deterioration and wear and tear, not storm conditions. It pointed out that, since her policy didn’t cover these things, the claim couldn’t be accepted.
Unhappy with this response Iris contacted us.
What we said
When we checked Iris’s policy documents, we didn’t find a definition for storm damage or any mention of wind speeds. We also didn’t think wind speed should be a deciding factor in a storm damage case.
Looking at local reports from weather stations in Iris’s area, we saw mentions of storm conditions on the day that her house had been damaged. We noticed reports of “significant wind and rain” in her postcode on that same day. And there were local reports of other homes in Iris’s area being damaged by strong winds.
We also looked at photos of the damage to Iris’s roof and read the insurer’s surveyor’s comments. We thought the main reason that the tiles had come off the roof was the impact of the wind.
Exclusions for wear and tear and gradual deterioration only applied to claims for accidental damage under Iris’s policy. So, we upheld her complaint and told her insurer to deal with the claim under the storm damage section of her policy.