Storm damage

Storm work runs in a different order from everything else we do. Normally we survey, we quote, you decide, we book it in. After a storm that sequence is useless, because water is coming in now. So we invert it: make it safe, sheet it up, stop the ingress, then talk about what the permanent repair costs once everyone can think straight.

What comes off first is predictable. Ridge tiles and mortar verges go before anything else, because they are the edges and the wind gets under them — which is why we get more calls from the exposed Tamworth estates than from the sheltered streets in Boldmere after the same weather. Then it is dry-fix ridges that were never mechanically fixed properly, lead flashings that lift, and whole rows of edge tiles once a verge has let go and given the wind a handle.

The insurance side is where people get caught, so we do it properly. We photograph the damage before we touch anything, we date it, we describe the cause in language a loss adjuster recognises, and we itemise the emergency make-safe separately from the permanent repair. Insurers pay for storm damage. They generally do not pay for gradual deterioration, and if your ridge had been loose for four years the adjuster will say so. We will not write you a letter claiming otherwise. We will tell you honestly what we think the claim looks like.

One thing worth saying plainly: we are not a 24-hour emergency outfit and we are not going to pretend to be. There are five of us and we go home at night. After a big storm we prioritise by how much water is getting in, we ring you back with a real time rather than a hopeful one, and if we cannot get to you today we will say today, not string you along.