The short answer
Cover turns on your policy wording and on the reason the tiles moved. Storm damage is the kind of event buildings insurance exists for, while gradual wear and tear is often excluded. A payout is never certain, so read the wording, ring your insurer before anything else, make the roof safe and file the photos and receipts.
A slipped tile after a gale raises two questions at once: is the roof safe, and is the repair covered? The order you take things in matters.
Storm, or just age?
Buildings insurance usually covers the roof against a list of named events, and storm is one of them. A policy may also exclude damage that comes from age, poor maintenance or slow deterioration. So the cause of the slip shapes the conversation with your insurer.
How is a storm defined?
The Financial Ombudsman Service looks for violent winds, with rain, hail or snow usually part of it. That is the yardstick when a complaint reaches the Ombudsman, while the wording of your own policy is what the insurer applies first. A tile blown off in an exceptional gale looks like storm damage. A tile that slid because its nail rusted away, or because the batten behind it rotted, looks like wear.
Dates and photographs help here. If a named storm crossed Somerset the night before, note it, and save any weather warning you saw. A roofer's written findings on the cause give the insurer something concrete, though they do not decide the claim. We survey the roof, photograph the slipped tiles, the battens and the underlay, and describe what we see, which you can pass on in full.
What to do first, in order
Safety comes first, because slipped tiles can fall and water can reach the loft. After that, three steps help most: contact the insurer, cover the damage, and gather evidence.
Should I ring the insurer before the roofer?
Yes. Ring the insurer, then arrange a temporary repair. Which? reports that insurers generally run emergency helplines, and the number is on your policy papers. Ask what the policy expects of a temporary repair and whether the insurer follows a set process before work begins.
A make-safe is a temporary cover: a tarpaulin fixed over the slope, or a tile put back so water stays out. Whether reasonable emergency costs are met is a question for that first call. Keep the receipts for any temporary work.
The Institution of Structural Engineers treats photographs as vital evidence for a claim. Take pictures of the ground where tiles landed, any marks on the ceiling and the roof as seen from the ground, with the date on your phone. Do not climb up for the shots, and keep the broken tiles until your insurer has seen them or told you to bin them.
What insurers decide, and where complaints go
A roofer cannot say a claim will succeed, because the decision sits with the insurer. Which? reports that only 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 resulted in a payout, which shows why a clear cause and good records matter.
What if the claim is turned down?
Complain to the insurer first. If no final response letter arrives within eight weeks, the Financial Ombudsman Service can take the complaint. Once that letter arrives you then have 6 months, counted from its date, to go to the Ombudsman, which charges consumers nothing.
The roof still needs mending in the meantime. If a claim is refused, or the excess is bigger than the repair, the work may be yours to pay for. For a few slipped tiles, MyJobQuote gives £150 to £200 for five as a typical UK range (Oct 2026). A record of the fault and the repair, with photographs, is the paperwork that both an insurer and a later buyer find useful.
Check your policy for the excess and for any clause on maintenance, since some wordings link cover to the condition of the roof. Unclear wording is worth querying with the insurer before any repair is agreed.
Repairing the roof properly
Whatever the insurer decides, the roof needs mending so it does not get worse. Tiles that slip once will often slip again unless the reason is found. Rusted nails, rotten battens, a loose ridge or a wind-lifted verge all let more tiles go.
Is it one tile or the whole slope?
That is what a survey tells you. The answer on why roof tiles slip lists the causes, and the guide to winter roof tile damage covers what weather does. If the tile is cracked as well as slipped, is a cracked roof tile an emergency explains how urgent that is. For urgent make-safe work, see our emergency and general roof repairs page.
A customer who calls us out specifically for an urgent repair has no 14-day cancellation right for that visit, under regulation 28(1)(e) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations. The pitched roofing page covers the wider repair work. Send us photos of the slipped tiles. The roof is made safe first, then we survey, show you pictures, and one written price covers the lasting repair.
More on insurance and tiles
Do I need the insurer's go-ahead before the roof is mended?
Tell the insurer first, but do not leave the roof open to the weather. A temporary cover is normal, and receipts and photos should be kept. For a large claim, ask before the lasting repair, because an insurer can ask to inspect the damage or approve the work beforehand.
Is wear and tear covered by home insurance?
Policies commonly exclude it, but wordings differ, so read yours or ask the insurer. Slipped tiles caused by a storm may be treated differently from tiles that failed through age. A roofer's written findings on the cause are helpful evidence, though the insurer makes the decision.
The full picture: Pitched roofing in Taunton · More short answers