Roofers insurance with a claims history: one claim shouldn’t end your cover
Why one claim triggers an online decline
Quote-and-buy systems don’t read claims. They count them. Roofing already sits in the higher-risk column, so the automated rules leave no headroom: a claim in the last few years — sometimes any notified incident at all — and the answer is no. It doesn’t matter that it was a storm, or a customer who dropped the claim, or something your old insurer settled for peanuts. The machine sees a number greater than zero.
That’s frustrating, but it tells you something useful: the decline is about the system’s limits, not necessarily about your business. The route forward is to get your record in front of someone who can actually read it.
What underwriters actually want to see
A human underwriter looking at a claims record asks three questions. What happened? What did it cost? And what’s different now?
The third question is the one that decides most cases. A roofer who had a fire claim and then changed nothing is a risk waiting to repeat itself. A roofer who had the same claim and then tightened up the fire watch routine, switched vulnerable details to hot air or cold-applied systems, or stopped taking the kind of job that caused the loss — that’s a risk that has already improved. Underwriters write improved risks every day.
Useful things to be able to show: what the incident taught you, any changes to working practice or kit, training since, and clean trading since the loss. None of it needs to be fancy. It needs to be true and clearly told.
Honesty at proposal stage: fair presentation
Commercial insurance in the UK runs on a duty of fair presentation under the Insurance Act 2015. In plain terms: you must tell the insurer what you know, or ought to know, that would matter to them — and claims history is at the top of that list.
Leaving a claim out doesn’t make it disappear. Insurers check and share claims data, and non-disclosure usually comes to light exactly when you need the policy: at claim time. Depending on how the non-disclosure is judged, the insurer may reduce the payout, apply the terms it would have applied, or void the policy altogether. Then you’re carrying both the refused claim and a voided policy that must be declared on every proposal after. Declare everything the form asks for. Every time.
How a broker presents a claims record
This is where the broker route earns its keep. We don’t just pass on a claims count — we build the presentation: confirmed claims experience from your previous insurers where available, the circumstances of each loss, costs and recoveries, and a straight account of what changed since. Then we take it to underwriters we know will consider claims-hit roofing risks, rather than firing it at a portal that was always going to say no.
We’ll also tell you honestly how your record reads. If there’s a pattern an underwriter will worry about, better to hear it from your broker first — with time to fix it — than in a string of declines.
If your renewal has been refused or loaded
If your current insurer has declined to renew, or come back with a number that’s clearly a “please go away” price, don’t leave it until the last day of cover. The more time we have, the more markets we can approach properly. Have your claims details and renewal paperwork to hand and call 0117 325 0027. We can’t promise terms, but claims-hit roofing risks are exactly the kind of placement brokers exist for, and we can usually find a market.
Frequently asked questions
Will one claim really get me declined online?
It can, yes. Automated systems apply blanket rules, and because roofing is already rated as a higher-risk trade, the rules are tight. Some systems decline on any claim within a set number of years, regardless of size or fault. A human underwriter, by contrast, can weigh what actually happened.
Do I have to declare incidents that didn’t cost anything?
Answer the question you’re actually asked. Many forms ask about claims, incidents and circumstances that could give rise to a claim — not just paid claims. If you notified something and it closed at nil cost, that’s usually an easy thing to explain, but failing to declare it when asked is what causes real trouble later.
What happens if I just don’t mention a claim?
Insurers share and check claims information, so non-disclosure tends to surface at the worst moment — when you make a claim. Under the Insurance Act 2015 you owe a fair presentation of the risk. Deliberately hiding a claim can void the policy entirely; even a careless omission can see a claim reduced or refused. It is never worth it.
How many years of claims history do insurers look at?
Most proposal forms ask about the last five years, though some ask for more. Declare whatever the form asks for. If your claim is about to pass outside the window, tell your broker — timing can genuinely affect which markets are open to you, but the answer to the question asked must always be honest.
What do underwriters want to see after a claim?
Three things: a clear account of what happened, what it cost (including any recoveries), and what changed afterwards. New working practices, different equipment, training, better site checks, dropping the type of work that caused the loss — anything that shows the same claim is less likely to happen again. That story, told properly, is what gets claims-hit risks written.
Will my premium be higher because of a claim?
Often, yes, at least for a while — underwriters price the record in front of them. But a fairly-rated premium from an insurer who knows the full story beats a cheap policy bought on incomplete answers, which may not pay out at all. As clean years accumulate, the loading typically eases.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.