After a storm you may find yourself with an open roof system due to tree or wind damage. The insurance company will ask you to make temporary repairs. What is the reason for this? The most obvious reason is to ….Stop the leak. Leaking water into your home can limit your rebuilding options when additional damage occurs. There are many other reasons as well.
The safety of your family is the main reason. The health of your family is at risk when water keeps entering and creates and environment where toxic mold spores can grow. Water entering electrical systems can cause fires.
Securing your contents is another important reason to secure a tarp to your roof. Separate from water damage, holes in your roof allow areas for rodents to enter. Squirrels, rats, and ants are desperately looking for new homes after their nest have been destroyed by the storm.
So of all the reasons above some things are, and are not covered under the standard homeowner’s insurance policy. Roof tarps are typically covered. Mold and rodents are not.
Your insurance contract has certain duties that must be performed by the insured party to keep the policy valid and binding. The policy states it is the insured responsibility to protect the property from further damage. The standard insurance policy also states it covers the reasonable cost to make those temporary repairs such as tarping a roof, or boarding up a window after a storm.
There is every reason to tarp the roof, the one reason not to is if it is unsafe for you to climb up there. There are companies like Temporary Repair LLC that specialize in roof tarp services. You can also call roofing companies, handymen and water restoration companies. You can buy tarps at your local big box store and tarp the roof yourself if you think it is safe and you know how