Do I have to pay a deductible if I am not at fault for the damage to my home?
Short answer. If you use your own homeowners policy, you pay your deductible up front even when someone else caused the damage, but your insurer may recover it from the at fault party and reimburse you. If you claim directly against the at fault party's insurance, no deductible applies, though that route can be slower.
Storms have no one at fault
Hail, wind and lightning are nobody's fault in insurance terms. Storm damage to your roof always goes through your own policy and your deductible, including when a neighbor's healthy tree falls on your house during a storm.
When someone else is responsible
Examples: a driver hits your carport, a contractor's crew damages your roof, a neighbor ignores a dead tree that later falls, or a moving truck tears down your gutters. You have two options:
- Claim against their insurance. No deductible, but you must show they were negligent, and their insurer may dispute it.
- Use your own policy. Faster. You pay your deductible, your insurer pays the rest, then pursues the at fault party through subrogation. If it recovers, it typically reimburses your deductible, sometimes in proportion to what it recovered.
How to protect your deductible
- Get the other party's name, insurer and policy number, and a police report for vehicles.
- Photograph the cause and the damage before anything is moved.
- Tell your insurer someone else is responsible when you report the claim.
- Ask your adjuster to keep you updated on subrogation.
For the filing steps, read how to file a roof insurance claim, and for storm roof damage specifically, see wind damage roof claims.