How to actually use your insurance for a Brisbane storm-damaged roof

When the storm rolls through#

Brisbane storm season runs October through March, and roughly once every 18 months a hail event drops big enough stones to dent half the suburbs at once. The October 2025 storm generated over 11,000 insurance claims in Queensland (a significant event declared by the Insurance Council of Australia), and a lot of those claims got messy.

Not because the policies didn’t cover the damage, but because homeowners didn’t know the playbook. I’ve spent years working alongside Brisbane roofers handling these claims, and I’ve seen exactly which moves win them and which moves drag them out.

This is the playbook#

What follows is the same advice the most experienced storm-claim roofers give homeowners when they ring up panicking. It’s based on what I see when people come to us after trying to handle a claim themselves and getting stuck.

What to do in the first 48 hours#

Quick answer: Safety first, photograph everything before mitigating, lodge the claim with your insurer the same day, then arrange emergency tarping. In that order.

Most of the outcome of an insurance claim is decided in the first two days. Get this part right and the rest is paperwork. Get it wrong and you’ll fight about it for three months.

Document, then lodge, then mitigate. In that order. If you mitigate first and forget to document, the insurer can’t see what they’re paying for.

1. Safety first#

If water is actively coming into the house or part of the roof has lifted, get out from underneath. Don’t climb on the roof yourself, because wet roofs are slippery and storm-damaged ones are unstable. Emergency tarping is a 24 to 48 hour service in Brisbane post-storm, sometimes faster.

When to call emergency services#

If the situation is genuinely dangerous (live electricals, structural collapse) call 132 500 (SES) or 000.

2. Photograph everything#

Phone, ground level, every angle. The more photos the better. I cannot overstate how much this matters. Assessors approve what they can see.

What to capture#

• The roof from each elevation (front, back, both sides)
• Close-ups of every visible damaged area (dents, missing tiles, lifted ridge caps)
• Internal water staining on ceilings, date-stamped
• Hail stones on the lawn with a coin for scale, if you can, because these don’t last long
• Damaged contents inside (furniture, electronics) for the contents claim

Bonus: drone footage#

If you have a drone, even an old Mavic Mini, that footage is gold for an assessor. If you don’t, the roofer you eventually pick will do the high-up shots during inspection.

3. Lodge the claim immediately#

Call your insurer the same day if possible. Get a claim number in writing (email or SMS). Don’t wait for “things to settle”. Most insurers backdate-assess based on the storm date, but the assessor queue fills fast after a major event.

Have these ready#

Your policy number, the date and approximate time of the storm, a description of the damage, and your photos.

4. Then mitigate#

After you’ve documented and lodged, then arrange emergency tarping or a tarp-up bucket job. Your insurer will reimburse you for reasonable emergency mitigation, since the goal is to stop further damage. Keep all receipts.

You can choose your own roofer#

Quick answer: Yes. Under Australian Consumer Law you have the right to choose your own contractor for an insured repair. You do not have to use the insurer’s panel roofer, and you do not lose your cover by going independent.

This is the single most under-known fact in Australian home insurance, and the roofers I work with say it again and again to homeowners who don’t realise it.

The legal right#

Under Australian Consumer Law, you have the right to choose your own contractor for an insured repair. The insurer can suggest one of their panel roofers, and many homeowners default to that out of inertia, but you do not have to accept it. You do not lose your cover by going independent.

Why this matters in Brisbane#

• Insurer panel roofers are often interstate companies surging in for storm season. They take on too many jobs, run late, and leave town when the next event hits another state.
• Local Brisbane roofers who specialise in insurance claims usually do the inspection and quote for free on the strength of the work, document everything for the assessor, and bill the insurer directly so you never touch the money.
• A roofer who knows your suburb knows things an interstate panel roofer won’t: heritage rules, council DA processes, who the good plumbers and gutter people are for sub-trades.

What to actually say#

You can ring your insurer and say:

“I’d like to use my own roofer for this claim. Please send me the assessor’s scope of work when it’s ready.”

That’s it. They’ll comply.

Cash settlement vs managed repair, pick deliberately#

You’ll be offered one of two paths after the assessment lands. Most insurers default you to managed repair without explaining the difference.

Cash settlement#

The insurer pays you the assessed amount. You organise everything from there.

Pros#

Total flexibility on contractor choice, scheduling, scope. If you want to upgrade from terracotta to Colorbond, you can pay the difference and do the upgrade.

Cons#

You take on project-management risk. If the roofer disappears or the job runs over budget, you’re on your own.

Best for#

Homeowners with an existing roofer relationship or strong project-management appetite.

Managed repair#

The insurer pays the roofer directly and project-manages the job.

Pros#

Simpler. The insurer wears the project risk if something goes wrong.

Cons#

Usually pushes you onto the insurer’s panel. Less flexibility on scope (no upgrades). The insurer’s contractor schedule queue is your schedule queue.

Best for#

Time-poor homeowners who just want it done.

The hybrid#

There’s a hybrid: “choose your own roofer, managed repair”, where the insurer pays your roofer directly but you picked them. Ask for this if you want both upsides.

The paperwork that wins claims#

A claim with these attached gets approved fast. The roofers in our network have seen this list win claim after claim.

• ✅ Date-stamped photos (every angle, internal + external)
• ✅ Hail stone photos with a coin for scale, if relevant
• ✅ An independent roofer’s written scope of work with itemised materials
• ✅ The roofer’s quote in writing, broken out by labour, materials, scaffolding, disposal
• ✅ A drone or close-up photo of the damaged areas the assessor can’t easily see from the ground
• ✅ Any internal damage photos (ceiling staining, swollen plaster, etc.)
• ✅ Receipts for emergency tarping or temporary mitigation
• ✅ Your policy number, claim number, and the storm event date in one summary email

A claim without these attached gets put in the assessor queue.

Common traps and how to avoid them#

”Pre-existing wear and tear” pushback#

If your roof was visibly failing before the storm, the insurer can argue it wasn’t the storm that did the damage. Counter this with photos from before the storm if you have them (real estate listings, your own photos, Google Street View are all valid evidence), and an independent roofer’s assessment of which damage is storm-specific.

Lowballed assessor scope#

The assessor’s quote can come in suspiciously below your roofer’s. They missed something, often underfelt, full strip-off, or asbestos in pre-1980s ridge capping. Ask for the scope in writing, show it to your roofer, and submit a variation.

Endless scheduling drift#

Insurer panel roofers can push your repair date back repeatedly because they’re juggling too many jobs. If you’ve waited more than 8 weeks for a scheduled repair, switch to your own roofer. Your right to choose applies throughout the claim, not just at the start.

Refusal to pay for damage they don’t see#

If hail damage exists but isn’t visible from the ground, the assessor sometimes denies it. Your roofer should document with drone or close-up photos and reference Australian Insurance Council guidelines on hail damage assessment (the surface bruising standard).

When to escalate to AFCA#

If a claim is unreasonably denied or stalled, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority is free for consumers. Insurers take AFCA complaints seriously because findings against them are public and binding up to a limit.

What “insurance-fluent roofers” actually do for you#

If you choose a Brisbane roofer who specialises in insurance work, here’s what you can expect them to handle (for free, on the strength of getting the eventual job):

• Full inspection with photographic documentation suitable for assessors
• Written scope of work formatted the way insurers want to see it
• Direct communication with the insurance assessor on your behalf
• Variation requests if the assessor’s scope misses anything
• Direct billing to the insurer so you never see the invoice
• Coordination of sub-trades (gutters, plumbing, ceiling repair)
• Scheduling around your insurer’s authorisation timeline

This is what we route storm-claim leads to in our network. It’s not magic, it’s a roofer who’s done this 300 times instead of three.

A simple decision tree#

You’ve just had storm damage. Use this.

Is anyone in danger?#

Call 132 500 (SES) or 000.

Is water entering the house right now?#

Photograph it, lodge the claim, then arrange emergency tarping.

No active leak, but visible damage?#

Photograph everything, lodge the claim, get a quote from an insurance-fluent local roofer (we’ll match you with one), and let them handle the assessor liaison.

No visible damage but you suspect hail?#

Get a free roof inspection. Hail damage on Colorbond is sometimes only visible from the roof. Insurers will assess it if your roofer documents it properly.

The bottom line#

The whole point of the policy you’ve been paying for is that the system works for you when you need it. It usually does, if you know the playbook.