A roof fails at the worst time. It is dark, it is raining hard, there is a drip on the landing carpet and a family member asking what to do. You pick up the phone and search for a roofer, and the first dozen results all promise to be there quickly. This is the moment when people hand over the most money for the least work.
Nothing here is meant to scare you off hiring someone. A leaking roof does need a professional, and quickly. The point is that a few minutes of checking before you agree to anything protects you from the two classic problems: the roofer who turns up, finds a catastrophe you did not have, and sells a full re-roof off the back of a cold call; and the one who takes a deposit, patches nothing and does not return.
This post sets out what to check on the phone, the warning signs at the door, what a proper make-safe visit looks like and what to be wary of, and how to keep a record in case you later need to show an insurer what happened. Keep it open on your phone while you ring around. It will take about as long as boiling the kettle, and that is time well spent.
Make safe first, repair second
A good emergency visit has two stages, and it helps to keep them apart in your head. The first is making the roof safe: stopping the water, securing anything loose and protecting the house. The second is the proper repair, which may happen days or weeks later once the weather allows and the cause is known. Mixing them up is how people end up agreeing to a large job in a panic.
What does a make-safe visit involve?
Usually a look from outside and from the loft, a temporary cover over the opening such as a tarpaulin fixed over the slope, loose tiles or slates secured or taken off, a blocked outlet cleared, or a flat roof patched with a temporary sealed repair. Our guide on what a roof make-safe is goes through each step, and the one on emergency roof tarpaulin explains how sheeting should be fixed so it does not flap loose in the next gust.
What should it not involve?
A signature on a large contract on the same visit. The make-safe job should be small, clearly described and priced on its own. If the roofer says the whole roof must be replaced to stop tonight's leak, that is a red flag, because replacement needs scaffold, materials and weather, none of which can be arranged in an evening. Ask what the temporary measure is, how long it should hold, and what the permanent repair would involve. A decent roofer answers all three in plain words, and offers to send photos of what they found.
For our part, a first visit stops the leak, and the lasting repair gets its own written price once the roof has been surveyed.
Ten minutes of checks before you say yes
Most of the useful checking happens before anyone arrives, and most of it can be done by phone while you are putting bowls under drips. Citizens Advice, which advises the public on home improvements, recommends collecting written quotes from three different traders where that is possible. In a genuine emergency you may not have time for three. You can still ask the questions that three quotes would have answered.
What should you ask on the phone?
Start with the basics. Ask for the firm's name and a landline or office number as well as a mobile, since Citizens Advice warns to be wary of a trader who gives only a mobile number. Ask for a business address, and whether the person coming will be an employee or someone else's subcontractor. Ask whether they will give you a written price before work begins, and whether they will send photos of the problem. Ask them to describe what they will do on the first visit. A company with a clear routine can explain it in two sentences.
How do you check a claim to belong to a trade body?
When a roofer claims membership of an association or scheme, check the body's own website, where members are listed, as Citizens Advice advises. Do not rely on a logo on a van or a website footer. The same applies to reviews: written references are not always genuine, so ask for the contact details of a recent customer and, if possible, call them. You can also look up a limited company on the Companies House register for free.
Ask to see proof of public liability cover before work begins, and check its date. Citizens Advice suggests checking that you and your trader both have the right cover. If you are told it is in the office, ask for it to be emailed.
Storm chasers and other warning signs
After a bad storm, certain callers appear on the doorstep within hours. Some are genuine local firms working through a backlog. Others are travelling crews who have followed the weather forecast from town to town. You do not need to guess which is which, because their behaviour is different.
What does a storm chaser do?
They knock on your door unprompted and say they noticed damage from the road. They push for a decision there and then, offer a discount if you sign today, and ask for payment up front, often in cash. They are vague about the firm's name and address, and the van may carry no name at all. They quote a big number for a repair you can't see from the garden, and they are not interested in sending photographs or putting the price in writing.
What if you did not invite them?
Say thank you and close the door. A roof that was sound yesterday is rarely a crisis today, and a legitimate roofer will give you a card and let you decide. If you did request the visit yourself, one consumer rule works differently. The usual cancellation rights for contracts signed at home do not apply when you asked for the visit yourself over urgent repairs, although any extra work pitched to you during that visit stays covered. That is a good reason to keep an emergency agreement narrow and agree anything extra afterwards in writing.
Never go up yourself
Do not climb to look, and do not let a stranger climb to look at your cost without access set up properly. Wet tiles and a ladder at night make injuries more likely than the leak does.
Prices under pressure: what is fair to expect
Emergency work costs more than planned work, because it cannot always wait for the weather, the parts or the diary. That is a fair reason for a different price. It is not a reason for a price you cannot understand, and it should never come with threats about what happens if you do not agree this minute.
What are typical figures?
Checkatrade's roof repair cost guide (table updated June 2026) gives typical UK day rates for a roofer of £35 to £45 per hour or £280 to £360 per day. Its tile guide puts a repair of five slipped or cracked tiles or fewer at £170 to £500, with the top figure reached when a scaffold is needed. Those are national guide figures, quoted without VAT, and the right number for your roof depends on access, height and what the survey finds. Our answer on the roofer call-out fee explains what a call-out normally covers.
What should the written price say?
Written confirmation of one total for the work described, plus a note on whether VAT and any scaffold or tower are included. Ask what is not included. If the roofer finds more once the tiles are off, the next step is a new written price, not a verbal top-up. Keep the paperwork, and keep the receipts, because your insurer may ask to see them.
A licence from the highway authority covers scaffold that has to stand on a pavement or road. On our jobs the licence is worked through jointly with the scaffolder, and it is fair to ask any firm who applies. Our answer on emergency scaffolding for roof repair covers the timing.
Insurance, evidence and your own record
If your home policy might cover the damage, ring the insurer before you spend money, and do what it tells you. Which? says most insurers run emergency helplines, so the call need not wait for office hours. Then make a temporary repair to limit further harm, and keep photographs and receipts. Structural engineers' guidance for storm victims calls photographs vital to a claim, since they show the damage as it was.
Can you choose your own roofer?
Often yes, but it depends on the policy. Some insurers have a preferred contractor, others will accept your choice with an estimate, and a few want to approve work before it starts. Our answer on choosing your own roofer for an insurance claim lists what to ask your insurer. Treat a payout as uncertain until your insurer confirms it. Which? reports Financial Conduct Authority figures of just 32% of storm-related claims made in 2024 resulted in a payout, and wear and tear is often excluded.
What should your record contain?
The date and time you noticed the leak, photographs of the ceiling and of the roof from the garden, the firm's name and phone number, what was agreed and what was done, plus a copy of any message about price. If a claim is later handled unfairly, the Financial Ombudsman Service takes complaints. A tidy folder on your phone makes every step easier.
Ask the roofer to photograph the damage and the temporary repair before leaving, and to send the pictures to you. Pictures of your own roof, taken by the person who was up there, are the best protection against both a wrongful quote and a disputed claim.
From emergency to proper repair
Once the water is stopped and the weather settles, the real question is what the roof needs. This is where an emergency firm should step back and let a survey do the talking. Plenty of leaks trace to one local fault, perhaps a cracked valley or a lifted flashing, and a short repair finishes the job.
How do you stay in control?
Ask for a survey with photographs, and for a written price that covers the permanent work. Do not feel obliged to give the same firm that did the make-safe the bigger job. A roofer who is confident in their work will accept that you want a second view. Equally, if they were helpful and clear, rehiring them is sensible, because they already know the roof.
Be cautious about any suggestion that a temporary repair has to be paid for in full and immediately in cash, or that a permanent repair needs a large deposit before the materials are even ordered. A reasonable arrangement is spelled out in writing and tied to stages of the work.
When does a roof need replacing rather than patching?
When faults spread over whole slopes: tired tiles, soft battens and perished underlay all at once. Our post on dealing with roof emergencies sets out the first hour indoors while you wait for the roofer. For the services themselves, see emergency and general roof repairs.
When you call us, tell us where the water appears, what the roof is made of if you know it, and send two or three photos from the garden. We start by looking at the loft and the slope above the stain.
Part of our Emergency & General Roof Repairs in Crawley
Questions on choosing a roofer in an emergency
Should I get three quotes when my roof is leaking?
Three quotes is a good habit for planned work. In a leak you may only have time to speak to two or three firms by phone. Ask each the same questions about what they will do, whether they give a written price and whether they send photos, then pick the clearest.
Can a roofer ask for payment before starting?
A small deposit for materials on a larger job can be reasonable if it is written down, but be cautious about large cash payments up front. For a make-safe visit, agree the price first and pay when the job is done. Ask for a receipt that names the firm and the work.
What should a roofer give me after a make-safe visit?
Photographs of what they found and of the temporary repair, a written note of what was done and how long it should hold, and a separate written price for the permanent repair. Keep these with your receipts so they are ready if you need to show an insurer.
