Does homeowners insurance cover emergency roof repair?
Short answer. Yes, when the emergency comes from a covered event like wind, hail, or a fallen tree, most homeowners policies pay for reasonable temporary repairs such as tarping, and many policies require you to make them to prevent further damage. Keep every photo and receipt, because the cost is usually added to your claim.
Most homeowners policies include a duty to protect the property from further damage after a loss, paired with a promise to pay the reasonable cost of doing it. That is why a tarp, a boarded opening, or water extraction after a storm is normally added to the claim instead of being treated as a separate bill.
What usually counts as a reasonable emergency repair
- Tarping a damaged section or covering a hole left by a fallen limb
- Boarding broken skylights or windows
- Removing standing water, wet insulation, and soaked drywall to prevent mold
- Removing a tree resting on the house, often subject to a separate limit in the policy
How to keep it payable
- Photograph first. Take wide and close photos of the damage, inside and out, before anything is covered or removed.
- Keep it temporary. Stop the water, but hold off on permanent replacement until the adjuster has seen the damage or you have thorough documentation of it.
- Save receipts and invoices, including materials you bought yourself, and keep debris the adjuster may want to see.
- Report the claim quickly and tell the insurer what emergency work was done and when.
Emergency costs are part of the same claim, so they fall under the same deductible rather than being paid on top of it. Be wary of anyone who uses a nighttime emergency to push a full replacement contract or an assignment of your insurance proceeds; a tarp job should be priced and signed on its own. Read more about the duty to mitigate and tarping and about interior water damage from roof leaks.