While the weather is still bad
Stay out of rooms where the ceiling is sagging or bulging. If water is reaching lights, power points or the switchboard, turn the power off at the switchboard if you can get to it safely. Keep well away from fallen power lines and anything touching them. If anyone is in danger, call 111. No one should be on a roof in wind and rain, and a good roofer will wait until it's safe too.
A storm claim, in order
Protect the inside
Put containers under drips, lift rugs, and get electronics and anything precious out of the wet rooms.
Photograph and film the damage
Inside and out, from the ground: the ceiling, missing iron or tiles, torn spouting (gutters), fallen trees and debris. Note the date and time. Keep damaged materials until your insurer says you can get rid of them.
Call your insurer as soon as you can
Get a claim number. Ask whether they'll arrange the repairs or you should, and what they'll accept for emergency work in the meantime.
Get a roofer to make it safe
Once the wind drops, a roofer can tarp the roof, refix loose sheets or put in a temporary patch. Keep the invoice and the roofer's photos.
Get the cause in writing
Ask the roofer for a short report: what the storm damaged, and anything that was already worn. Insurers decide on cause, so this matters.
Agree the permanent repair before it starts
Make sure the insurer has approved the scope, and that the roofer's quote is in writing and lists what's included.
Keep a log
Dates, names, claim numbers and what was agreed, all in one place. It saves a lot of repeating yourself later.
Who pays for what after a storm
After a storm or flood, the Natural Hazards Commission (what EQC became) covers your land only. Damage to the house itself goes to your private insurer.
The exception is a landslide. If the storm sets off a landslide, NHC covers both your home and your land. Our Natural Hazards Commission guide explains how that claim works.
Trees on the roof
If a storm brings a tree down on your house, insurance generally pays to fix the house and to remove the parts of the tree needed for the repair. It doesn't usually pay to remove the rest of the tree, so that part is on you.
A tree landing on a roof is the Insurance Council's own example of the sudden damage house insurance exists for. If it's still resting on the roof, leave it for an arborist and a roofer to deal with together.
Storm damage or wear and tear?
Insurers pay for sudden damage. The Insurance Council says New Zealand courts treat sudden as abrupt: within minutes or hours, not days or weeks. It also says insurers don't treat rusting roofing iron, worn paint or blocked gutters as sudden.
A storm often finds a weak spot, and that's where it gets blurry. Iron that lifted because the nails had rusted, or spouting that failed because it was packed with leaves, may be seen as a maintenance problem the storm exposed.
That's why the roofer's report matters so much. It should say plainly what the wind or a falling branch did, and what was already tired before the storm arrived.
Does the repair need a building consent?
Usually not, for a like-for-like repair. Schedule 1 of the Building Act lets you repair and maintain parts of a building without a consent if a comparable product is used, and replace parts with a comparable product in the same position.
That exemption doesn't cover complete or substantial replacement of a part that contributes to the building's structure, or repairs to something that failed the Building Code's durability rules, for example by letting in water. If a storm repair grows into a full re-roof or a change of roofing, ask the roofer about consent and check with your council if you're not sure.
Exempt or not, all building work still has to meet the Building Code. Our guide on building consent for a re-roof has more.
Door-knockers after a storm
After big storms, some traders go street to street offering roof repairs. If someone turns up uninvited and you agree to work worth more than $100, the law treats it as an uninvited direct sale, and you get extra protection.
The agreement must be written, dated and in plain language, showing the work, the total price or how it's worked out, the trader's name, street address, phone and email, and a summary of your right to cancel. They also have to tell you out loud, before you agree, that you can cancel within 5 working days and how.
You can cancel within 5 working days of getting your copy, by any means, even just by saying so. If you cancel, the trader must repay everything straight away, and isn't entitled to be paid for any work done before you cancelled.
Consumer Protection suggests paying by credit card if you do go ahead, so you can ask your bank for a chargeback if things go wrong. Our view is simpler: thank them, close the door and use a roofer you've checked. You can put up a sign telling door-to-door sellers not to come in.
Paying for storm repairs
There's no legal requirement to pay a deposit when you accept a quote. If you're asked for one, Consumer Protection advises paying no more than 10% of the total.
For residential building work of $30,000 or more including GST, the contract must be in writing, and the roofer must give you the official disclosure statement and checklist before you sign. You can ask for them on a smaller job too. Our guide to written contracts and disclosure explains what they include.
If you disagree with the insurer
Ask for the decision and the reasons in writing. Put your roofer's report and photos alongside it, and point out anything the insurer's assessor missed.
Complain to the insurer first. Under the Fair Insurance Code, member insurers must acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days, and update you within 10 working days of having the information they need.
If it's still not resolved after two months, go to the insurer's dispute resolution service, either the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) or Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL). It's free for you, and the insurer is bound by its decision.
Why storms take roofs in New Zealand
Wind gets under anything loose: a lifted sheet edge, a flapping flashing, ridge capping that's lost its fixings. Once it's under, it can peel back far more than the original weak spot.
It isn't rare. NIWA records that in the October 2008 Cambridge tornado, more than 100 houses lost their roofs or had them damaged. Keeping fixings tight and flashings secure is cheap protection against that kind of night.
What's on you, and what's on the roofer
You can
- Power off at the switchboard if water is near electrics and it's safe to reach
- Catch the water and protect belongings
- Photograph everything from inside and from the ground
- Call your insurer and keep a log
- Clear storm debris from the ground and downpipe outlets you can reach
- Keep every receipt
Leave to a roofer
- Tarps and temporary repairs, once it's safe
- Securing loose iron, tiles, ridges and flashings
- Anything on the roof, or near a fallen tree on it
- A written report on what the storm did
- The permanent repair, once the insurer has agreed the scope
What we'd do after a storm
Safety, photos, insurer, in that order, then a roofer to make it watertight as soon as the wind allows. We'd send door-knockers on their way and get the damage written up by a roofer we'd chosen ourselves. And we wouldn't sign off the permanent repair until the insurer has agreed the scope in writing.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.