Storm Austen then Storm Boelo, one home insurance excess or two

Storm Boelo arrived a day after Storm Austen. Gusts reached 85mph at Machrihanish in Argyll and at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, according to BBC News.

By Sunday afternoon, 161,400 properties were still without power, out of 838,700 affected across the two storms, Insurance Business reported, citing the Energy Networks Association. If your roof, fence or ceiling took damage over the weekend, a practical question follows the shock. Is this one claim or two?

Two storms in three days can mean two excesses, so it matters which damage came when.

Home policies usually apply an excess to each claim. Insurance Business points out that a home damaged by both storms could face two excesses unless the insurer treats the damage as a single loss, and that showing which storm caused what may not be straightforward.

The ombudsman has split a roof before. In a Financial Ombudsman Service decision against Aviva, one tile was found to be storm damage and the slipped tiles below it accidental damage. Aviva was told to pay an £1,800 repair invoice less two £150 excesses, recorded as two claims, plus interest. Two causes, two excesses, but the claim was paid.

Here is the detail worth sitting with. A fair split depends on evidence you can only gather now. Photograph the damage after each storm if you can, note the date and time, and keep receipts for emergency repairs. The ABI says insurers often rely on independent weather data and local records, and will be flexible where readings are inconclusive.

Then check your schedule. If the excess is larger than the second lot of damage, a separate claim pays nothing and may still count at renewal. Ask your insurer, in writing, whether it is treating the damage as one event or two.

One storm or two is a question of fact, not of forecasting. Write down what you saw while you still remember which night it was.