Does home insurance cover wind damage to a roof?
Short answer. Yes. Home insurance covers sudden wind damage to a roof, such as missing, creased or lifted shingles, torn flashing and displaced ridge cap, minus your wind and hail deductible. It does not cover shingles that blew off because they were installed wrong or had already deteriorated, and many policies exclude rain that came in without any physical damage.
Usually covered
- Shingles torn off, creased or unsealed by a wind event
- Ridge cap, hip shingles and starter strips that lifted
- Flashing, drip edge and vents bent or torn loose
- Decking damaged when a section blew off
- Interior water damage that came in through the wind opening
- Code required items needed to replace damaged sections, if you have ordinance or law coverage
Commonly excluded or disputed
- Improper installation. Shingles nailed above the nail line or with too few nails blow off in modest winds. Insurers may call this faulty workmanship.
- Deteriorated shingles that had lost their seal or were brittle and cracking before the storm.
- Wind driven rain without a physical opening.
- Prior damage from an earlier storm that was never repaired.
Repair or replace?
If the shingles are older and brittle, or the product is discontinued, a few missing shingles may not be repairable without damaging more or creating a mismatch. Ask the roofer to document a repairability test and matching issues. See matching and wind damage roof claims.
Act fast
Tarp missing sections immediately; leaving them open can reduce what is paid for resulting water damage. See emergency tarping.