Environment Canada reports that a tornado touched down yesterday in New Tecumseth, west of Bradford Ontario. This follows the damaging tornado that ripped through Angus on June 17. In the aftermath of tornadoes and serious thunderstorms and high winds homeowners will often find issues with missing shingles and leaky roofs. You might think that your insurance company is obliged to fix any damage resulting from natural disasters like this. While this is generally the case, you may not be aware of your obligations as a homeowner. This includes making every effort to ward against residual damage.
Say, for example, high winds cause several shingles to be ripped off your roof. You were lucky enough to have this happen under dry conditions so you did not suffer any water damage. Now, let's say that there is a heavy downpour a couple of days later which causes interior water damage due to the new leak in your roof. Your insurance company can deny the claim for the water damage because it was your responsibility to install roof tarps to cover your damaged roof until it is repaired. At the very least, they will likely charge two separate deductibles since there were two separate damage "events" (or even more if you fail to cover the roof after the first rain event!).
Another common problem that occurs even when homeowners do take steps to cover leaky roofs while waiting for repairs is that they use cheap tarps. These tarps frequently leak, rip or blow off rendering them ineffective. Don't let this happen to you. If your roof leaks, order one of our heavy duty tarps right away to prevent further damage while waiting for your repairs to be completed.
