Flat Roof Home Insurance


Generally, houses with up to approximately 15% flat roofing are not subject to any extra charges for home insurance, but a larger proportion of flatness will be subject to a higher premium or excess to the policy. Normally, houses with over 20% flat roofing will be regarded as a non-standard insurance risk.

Flat roofs fall into the ‘non-standard’ insurance category because their horizontal nature makes them more likely to sustain long term damage from rain and snow as there is nowhere for the water to run. Their robustness will also be determined by the construction materials used, for example, felt and bitumen on wood or concrete and steel beams, and the age.

Although standard house insurance policies are not designed to cover the usual wear and tear that can be expected to occur over the lifetime of a flat roof, they should cover the contents of the house if they are damaged during specified events, such damage to contents caused by water leaking through the roof. The homeowner will be required to maintain the flat roof’s condition and renew a suspect roof well before any leaks appear. An examination by a trained flat roofer will ascertain the type of roofing felt used to determine the life expectancy of the roof and the likely cost of renewal.

Tenants residing in blocks of flats with a flat roof can expect the house insurance to be included in the service charge. Owners of houses with non-standard flat roofs may find speaking to a specialist house insurance broker helpful. These include Sakza insurance brokers, Adrian Flax or 2gether.