A version of this article from Martin Cornes, Director of Quadrassist, the managed building repair network for Woodgate & Clark, first appeared in Insurance Edge in March 2025.
There were 12 named storms on the 2023/2024 storm season. Storm Éowyn in late January 2025 was described as a "once in a generation" event, with wind gusts exceeding 100 mph (161 km/h), particularly impacting Scotland and Northern Ireland. Knowing that winter wind speeds are projected to increase in the second half of the 21st century, accompanied by an increase in the frequency of winter storms , our customers in the insurance sector are keenly aware of the need to fully understand roof condition and risks at all stages of the customer journey, not least at claim.
Invariably roofs bear the brunt of severe windstorms and while new risks such as the installation of solar panels, are creating challenges for the insurance sector, damage to the roof of a home can uncover the presence of a long-established health risk - asbestos.
The vast majority of the UK’s housing stock was built well before the ban on asbestos in 1999 . Whilst it’s well understood that different forms of asbestos pose differing risks and most can exist safely if undisturbed in older homes, recent weather events have literally exposed one of the most dangerous types of asbestos in the roof undercloak.
In the UK, "undercloaking" on roofs is where asbestos-containing boards have been used to support roof tiles at the edge of a roof overhang. Usually made of cement, these boards support roof tiles where they extend beyond the brickwork at the end of a roof, such as at gable ends.
If the roof is damaged in a storm, including the undercloak, the risk is that asbestos fibres could become airborne.
Most consumers simply would not know whether the undercloak on their roof contains asbestos. This is why the team at Quadrassist is trained to spot where asbestos could exist in a home. Even so, testing is essential to establish if the undercloak is safe to handle or will need safe removal by a licensed asbestos removal contractor, should it become damaged in a storm.
Asbestos was first used in homes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming more common between the 1920s and 1980s. Its peak use was in the 1950s to 1980s in residential construction – this was also a boom time for property development in the UK. Its fire-resistant and insulating properties made it a popular material in roofing, flooring, insulation, cement, and textured coatings (like Artex).
The key to dealing with asbestos is knowing where in the property it might be present. Insurance claims for roofs are far from uncommon but the type of storm damage we have seen in the past few years is leading to more incidences of asbestos being exposed in roof undercloaks. It therefore remains vital that insurance providers and their loss adjuster partners remain alert to this risk, particularly as our experience has shown that it is usually the more dangerous asbestos that is present in the board used.
As the ABI confirms insurers paid out a record £5.7billion in insurance claims related to adverse weather in 2024, awareness of asbestos risks remains critical in property repairs, both inside and out.
