Storms are the leading cause in CAR claims statistics, and they follow their own choreography: an afternoon warning, gusts of wind overnight, a soaked slab by morning, scaffold boards scattered everywhere – then weeks of correspondence about whether the "temporary protection was adequate". This article is about turning that scenario into a routine case.
- Storm damage is a covered type of loss – the dispute almost always turns on the quality of protective measures.
- The typical expectation: following the forecast, a closeable end-of-day condition, properly sized temporary covering, and secured lightweight elements.
- Weather data and photographic documentation are the two strongest pieces of evidence.
- The combination of an open building and storm season is also a matter of work scheduling.
What does a storm attack?
Wind attacks large surfaces and unsecured elements: tarpaulins, sheet materials, the scaffolding, the partially braced structure. Rain attacks the open slab, the opened-up roof, and fresh structures. Together, the two make the classic loss pattern: once the wind has torn the sheeting, the rain has a clear run. On work carried out on an existing building, the loss often falls on the client's property – that's where the existing property extension does its job.
What does the insurer expect?
Nothing that a good site manager wouldn't do anyway: following the forecast every day; scheduling work so the structure is in a closeable, protected state at the end of each day; properly sized and secured temporary covering (a "sheet just thrown over it" is a recurring dispute, a strapped-down, edge-fixed system is the argument that holds up); and storm-securing lightweight elements and cranes. These are typically also the wording's protective requirements – breaching them puts the settlement at risk: conditional covers.
After the storm: proving it
Two pieces of evidence carry everything: weather data (the warning and the measured gust – in a dispute, that's what decides whether the event was "exceptional") and a set of photos of the protective measures from before the storm: a weekly routine photo of the covering and fixings is worth its weight in gold at claim time. From there, the process is the usual one: loss mitigation, documentation, notification via the insurer's line – as set out in the claim notification article.
Planning for the season
Storm season is no surprise: it's worth scheduling the phases when the building stands open to the weather – the ones that fall in the stormy summer months – so that the most vulnerable phase (re-roofing, opening up a slab) is short and well protected. That's a matter of work scheduling – but it also shows up in cover planning: the natural-catastrophe losses article gives the full weather picture, and the loss-prevention checklist gives the daily routine.
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