Compare our best flat roof insurance

How to find flat roof home insurance

If your house has a flat roof it can be harder to find an affordable home insurance policy.

Regular home insurance may not cover your property if it has a flat roof. That’s because there’s a higher risk of weather damage, leaks and theft.

So, when it comes to home insurance, flat roof properties can be tricky. A specialist flat roof insurance policy could be what you need.

Find more information on flat roof insurance here.

What kind of roof needs flat roof insurance?

Most insurers consider a home to have a flat roof if the roof slopes less than 10 degrees.

So, if that’s the case for your property, you may need specialist flat roof home insurance.

How much of your roof is flat affects how much flat roof insurance you need

When you get a quote for your flat roof home insurance, you’ll need to know how much of your home's roof is flat. Many insurers will ask you to choose between:

Some regular insurers won’t offer you cover if more than 25% of the roof is flat. You might need a specialist flat roof insurance policy.

The lower the percentage of your roof that’s flat, the cheaper your policy will be. But be careful, because your policy may not pay out if you give the wrong information to the insurer. Work it out as accurately as you can.

How to work out what percentage of your roof is flat before you get flat roof home insurance

When you get home insurance, flat roof percentages can be tricky to work out.

There are a few ways to go about it, to help you make sure you get the right amount of flat roof insurance for your home.

Here are some of the ways you can work out how much of your roof is flat.

Why is a flat roof more expensive to insure?

A flat roof can be particularly problematic in the UK, as our climate means there’s lots of rain, ice and snow for your roof to contend with.

If water can’t run straight off a roof, which it does off a sloped one, it can pool on the flat surface. This makes it more prone to leaks and damp.

Flat roofs need more maintenance than sloped roofs. If you don’t stay on top of this, it can lead to more problems, so this is a concern for insurers. They also have a shorter lifespan generally.

The other thing that insurers bear in mind that flat roofs tend to be attractive to burglars. That’s because thieves can climb onto them and use them to get to upstairs windows in your home.

So when it comes to house insurance, flat roof properties are more risky to insure. 

Get the right flat roof insurance cover for your home

Once you’ve found policies that include flat roof insurance, there are a couple more things to think about.

Consider how much buildings insurance you need to cover the structure of your property. This includes walls, fixtures, fittings and outbuildings.

You should also think about how much contents cover you need to protect the personal items in your home. This includes electronics, furniture and valuables.

You’ll need to find a policy that offers enough protection to replace all your contents and covers the rebuild value of your home. Find out how to work out how much cover you need here.

What affects the price of your flat roof insurance?

When you take out flat roof insurance, a specialist insurer will want to know about:

They may also want to inspect your roof regularly.

Generally, the kind of things that will keep the price of your flat roof home insurance down are:

How to maintain your flat roof

If you’ve got a flat roof, it’s incredibly important to maintain it.

You can carry out your own checks to look out for any repairs that might need doing. It’s particularly important to do this after a period of wet weather. If you plan to go onto the roof to check, then you’ll need to ensure you have all the right safety equipment and measures in place. Otherwise, you can do whatever you can from ground level.

You can look for:

If you think any repairs need carrying out due to wear and tear, it’s best to speak to a roofer about these.

It’s a good idea to have a flat roof expert come and carry out an inspection every few years, too. You can ask for documentation so you can prove to your insurer that you’ve done this.