If a storm has damaged a rooflight, make the room below safe first: move people and valuables clear, keep away from broken glass and any wet electrics, and contain water coming in. Then photograph everything for your insurer, the damage, the water, and the date, before anything is moved or cleared. Book a survey for a replacement assessment, which we aim to do the same week. Do not climb onto the roof, do not try to sheet it yourself in the wind, and do not send anyone up. Storm-damaged roofs are more dangerous than usual, and the safe way to secure and replace the unit is from a scaffold, not up a ladder in bad weather.
This answer covers the storm steps. If the main problem is water coming through rather than structural damage, see water pouring through a loft rooflight, and on the coast the exposure that drives storm damage is on coastal rooflight failure.
Make the room safe first
- Clear people and pets from the room below the unit. If the glass is cracked or the frame displaced, treat the space under it as a drop zone until it is secured.
- Deal with broken glass carefully. Do not try to remove glass still in the frame overhead. Clear fallen glass from the floor with stout gloves and stiff footwear, and keep bare feet and children well away.
- Isolate wet electrics. If water has reached loft lighting, sockets or a rooflight motor, keep clear and switch off that circuit at the consumer unit if you can do so safely. If unsure, switch off and get an electrician.
- Contain the water. Buckets under the drip, towels to stop it spreading, and if water is pooling above a ceiling below, pierce a bulge over a bucket from a safe standing position to control where it comes down.
- Stay off the roof. Do not put a ladder up in the wind, do not climb out onto the slope, and do not try to throw a tarpaulin over it. This is where people get hurt after storms. Securing the roof safely is what the survey and scaffold are for.
We do not send anyone up a storm-damaged roof, and we do not do repairs. A storm-damaged rooflight is urgent, and we treat it as such with a prompt survey and a same-week replacement assessment where we can. What we will not do is nurse a broken unit with a patch or a reseal, or advise anyone onto a wet, wind-loaded slope to sheet it. The unit is secured and replaced properly from a scaffold. Patching a storm-cracked unit buys a season at best and the failure returns.
Record everything for insurance
Storm damage is commonly covered by buildings insurance, and a good record makes the claim smoother. Before anything is cleared or moved:
- Photograph the damage from inside: the cracked or broken glass, displaced frame, water ingress and any staining, with the date.
- Note the weather: the storm name or date, wind direction and severity. Insurers often check this against met records.
- Photograph resulting damage: to ceilings, walls, flooring and contents below the unit.
- Keep receipts for anything you buy to contain the damage, buckets, sheeting, and for any emergency electrician.
- Do not throw anything away until the insurer has what they need, including broken parts of the unit where it is safe to keep them.
We provide a written survey report and fixed quote that sets out the damage and the replacement scope, which is what an insurer usually wants to see. We can liaise with your insurer over the scope, though the claim itself is between you and them.
| Step | Do | Do not |
|---|---|---|
| People | Clear the room below, keep clear of glass overhead | Stand or sleep under a cracked unit |
| Electrics | Switch off the affected circuit if safe | Touch wet fittings |
| Water | Contain and control it from inside | Ignore a bulging ceiling |
| Roof | Leave it and book a survey | Climb up or sheet it in the wind |
| Insurance | Photograph and record before clearing | Discard broken parts too soon |
What a same-week replacement assessment covers
When we come out, from a scaffold or tower and inside the loft, never by walking the slope, the survey establishes:
- The extent of the damage: whether it is the glass, the frame, the flashing, the surrounding covering, or a combination.
- Whether the opening structure is sound, or whether the storm has disturbed the trimming or the covering around it.
- The right replacement unit and flashing kit for your covering, matched so the new install weathers properly rather than being another patch.
- Whether the exposure warrants an upgrade. On the coast, a unit that failed in a storm often points to under-specified fixings, and a replacement gets 316L stainless and marine-specification detailing. That coastal logic is on coastal rooflight failure and our Felixstowe page.
Because storms often damage the covering around the unit as well as the unit itself, this is also a natural moment to consider the wider roof, covered on whether to replace rooflights when re-roofing. The replace-not-repair position is on rotten rooflights, replace not repair.
Common questions about storm damaged rooflights
What should I do first if a storm damages my rooflight?
Make the room below safe: clear people and valuables, keep away from broken glass overhead and any wet electrics, switch off the affected circuit if you safely can, and contain the water. Photograph everything for insurance before clearing up. Then book a survey. Do not climb onto the roof or try to sheet it in the wind, and do not send anyone up. Securing and replacing the unit is done safely from a scaffold.
Will my insurance cover a storm-damaged rooflight?
Storm damage is commonly covered by buildings insurance, though it depends on your policy. Photograph the damage, note the storm date and wind, and keep receipts and broken parts until the insurer has what they need. We provide a written survey report and fixed quote setting out the damage and replacement scope, which is what insurers usually want, and we can liaise over the scope. The claim itself is between you and your insurer.
Can you come out quickly after a storm?
We treat storm damage as urgent and aim to survey and assess a replacement the same week where we can. What we will not do is a temporary patch or send anyone up a wet, wind-loaded roof, because that is where people get hurt and a patch fails within a season. The safe answer is a prompt survey from a scaffold and a proper replacement, priced as one written fixed figure.
Get a storm-damaged rooflight assessed this week
Tell us what has happened, roughly what the roof is, and where the property sits, and we will survey promptly from a safe platform, set out the damage and replacement scope in writing for your insurer, and give you one written fixed price. Every installation carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee and the installers have 25 years fitting rooflights behind them.
Request a survey and fixed quote for a storm-damaged rooflight in Ipswich, Suffolk or north Essex.
Thinking about this job? We survey across Ipswich, Suffolk and north Essex and give you a fixed price before any work starts, with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.