Flat roof Types

There are several types of flat roofing, with some that can be further divided into additional subcategories. As time has passed since the first flat roof types were developed, some flat roofs have proven themselves more durable or longer lasting than the others and a favoured few have begun to emerge as modern favourites. Though you might find a range of different flat-roofing materials on larger buildings like flats and office blocks, for the purposes of this article we will mainly be focussing on the types found in smaller domestic applications.

Despite what the name might suggest, flat roofs are rarely flat. They are usually built at a slight incline or “fall”, to allow rainwater (and the like) to drain adequately. For this reason, the materials used always need to be water repellent and water tight. Even with the fall incorporated properly, water pooling can still take place on roofs as they age and slacken, so flat roofs may require more inspection and maintenance than conventional roof types.


The practice of applying asphalt onto roofing has been undertaken for over a century. Layers of fibreglass felt coated in asphalt is brought onto a roof in rolls, before being spread out onto the roof boards and fixed down with either nails or asphalt cement (or a combination of the two). The uppermost layer of the asphalt roll (which must be at least two layers deep) is coated with gravel or stone chips to provide protection from UV light and to act as ballast to prevent the covering from being blown off. This type of flat roofing is the least expensive, but (as a result) requires changing every ten years.

Single ply flat roofing is made from a layer of material with similar properties to rubber or plastics; though still at the lower end of the price range, single ply materials offer a sturdy and energy efficient alternative to roll-out asphalt. The modern materials are favourable to traditional asphalt roll because they are more resistant to mould and mildew formation and require less maintenance. Single ply will usually have a lifespan of ten to twelve years, but thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) types could last as long as thirty years. The average lifespan of multiple-ply roofs (layers of fibreglass packed tightly between layers of asphalt for stronger reinforcement) will also last between ten and thirty years.

Modified bitumen may be used to coat the outer-layer of some multiple-ply roofs, applied in a thin membrane and composed from a combination of polymers and asphalt (bringing the best of both worlds together, though not necessarily with the best results). A modified bitumen roof will only have a lifespan of between ten and twenty years, but is likely to require less maintenance than a standard multiple-ply roof with a regular asphalt coating. Flat-seemed metal roofing are the longest lived of all the roof types, lasting for between twenty and fifty years, but are also the most cost effective.

If you have a flat roof you are likely to have difficulty finding flat roof insurance, because insurers see them as being a non-standard insurance risk. When insurers refuse to offer you the flat roof house insurance you require, you should be able to find cover from a non-standard home insurance provider. With HomeProtect insurance you can get a competitive online quote for flat roof home insurance, regardless of what type of flat roof you have.

Classification of Flood Risk

Knowing what level of risk you face with respect to flooding is an extremely practical concern to be considered, but may also be a requirement for your home insurance, without which the potential loss from flooding would be extremely high.

One of the most fundamental resources for finding out this information is the Environment Agency (EA). Their website is a useful resource, and will allow you to search for your property based on its post code. This will help you designate what level of risk they determine your property to be from flooding. The categories range between negligible, low, moderate and finally, significant. Be aware that even if your property is considered a negligible risk, this does not mean that you are conclusively at no risk of flooding. Rather, it means that your property is not perceived a risk from the type of flooding that the Environment Agency asses, which amongst other types of flooding, does not consider Ground Water flooding, and Surface Water flooding. 

Low Risk will often indicate that there is a 1 in 200 per year (or less) chance of flooding taking place. This will usually apply to properties in insurance Band 1, though that is only in terms of flooding insurance. If the risk is low, it is not substantial enough to make a significant impact on the price of your premium but does not mean that you are safe from flooding. Extreme weather conditions of recent years have caused large numbers of homes that have never encountered flooding before to come up against severe flood events, so flood planning and preparation is still advisable as a minimum precaution and resilience/resistance measures should be considered if you carry out refurbishments. indicates that the chance of flooding happening in any one given year is between 1 in 75 and 1 in 200. 

Broadly speaking, this is the same flood risk as insurance Band 2. While not always the case, this will usually apply to properties in areas that have previously suffered some kid of flood damage in the past. Those who reside in houses at moderate risk should have a flood plan in place, as well as installing whatever flood protection they can to the property. Examples of protections include flood boards, air brick covers, and non return valves on the sewage pipes. equates to a flood risk of 1 in 75 or greater or house flood insurance Band 3 (often those that have been flooded more than once in the previous 10 years or more). 

Occupants of properties at significant risk should certainly have a plan in place, as well as actively looking into resistance and resilience measures to install them as soon as possible. Only by doing this will you stand the best chance of managing the potential impact to property value and flooding insurance costs. If you are concerned that your local flood defences might be inadequate, you will need to discuss them with the EA. You also have the option of joining a local or national flooding organisation such as the National Flood Forum if you would like to see more being done about flooding.

Non-Standard Construction Materials

To the insurance industry at large, most properties that are a safe risk are those that are made of either brick or stone walls, with either slate or tile roofs. Broadly speaking, anything that does not fall under this blanket category will as a result be considered “non standard”. These materials are considered a very high risk or an unknown risk for a variety of reasons and insurance companies will be either very reluctant or simply outright refuse to insure homes made of these materials. We will now explore a few of the more common non standard materials, so that you can be aware of the full implications of owning a home made from them.

Asbestos home insurance

Asbestos is a building material famous for its many benefits in the home. It occurs naturally, and is extremely heat resistant. It's sound absorption capacities are very high, and it has great tensile strength. It saw a sharp decline in use in the 80s due to the discovery that inhaling large airborne concentrations of the materials had a very serious chance of creating a variety of cancerous diseases.  However, as long as asbestos is not damaged, or placed in a position where it is likely to be damaged, then the risk is drastically reduced. As long as the fibres cannot become airborne, then it is almost completely safe to use. Because asbestos occurs naturally in the uk, almost everyone is actually exposed to small amounts of asbestos fibres on a daily basis.

Cob construction home insurance

A material consisting of a combination of clay, sand, water, soil and water. When combined and left to dry, it produces a cheap, easy to produce material that is both fireproof and extremely resistant to earthquakes. It is becoming an increasingly popular material in eco friendly builds. The perceived risk of cob is that there is no official method of producing it. It is easy to get proportions incorrect and end up with a wall that is structurally very brittle.

Corrugated Iron home insurance

Corrugated iron tends to be used in construction in the method of galvanised sheets. Regular corrugations mean that it can easily be laid vertically or horizontally and simply joined to other sheets. Their shape makes for sturdy protection against the elements and creates natural drainage channels for rain water or snow. For insurance companies, the problem is that over time, exposed iron has a tendency to rust. A roof made of corrugated iron may also be less watertight then layers of tiles, so escape of water damage in bad weather is more likely.

Glass and Fibreglass construction home insurance

Glass is made from sand and silicates and though a common material in standard construction when used for windows, when it is used to create curtain walls or space frames (the former covers an entire building facade, the latter spans across a wide roof structure) it is thought of as non standard. Fibreglass is created using extremely fine glass fibres, and is favoured for its low weight to surface area ratio.

Timber and Plaster construction home insurance

Timber refers to a building’s wooden construction. A modern timber-framed building (usually built after 1965) might use wood as the basis of construction, employing BSST to build external walls/roof, and is usually considered as being of standard construction. Where building exteriors are built solely from timber, or timber/plaster combinations, they are likely to be seen as non-standard.

Unusual roofing materials home insurance

Roofing styles and materials can deviate as much as those of walls for a home and be considered non standard as a result. Shingle, wood tiles, thatch and glass are just some of the many options available. Flat roofs are also non standard, and their coverings can range from felt on timber, to asphalt or even bitumen or fibreglass.

If your house has any of the non-standard building materials mentioned above, then it is likely that you will have difficulty obtaining suitable insurance at a reasonable price. With homeprotect you can find a competitive online quote for home insurance, no matter how unusual your home or how non-standard the materials used to construct it are. As long as your home is in the UK and sits upon fixed foundations, we aim to provide the cover you need.

Advice for buyers/owners of non standard homes

Traditionally, most homes in the UK are made of similar materials. Walls are constructed from brick or stone, and roofs are made from tile or slate. Broadly speaking, in the insurance world, anything else is what would be considered “non standard”. This can be a very bad thing as by being labelled as such, owners of these properties will find it much harder to find adequate insurance for their property. Insurance companies tend to prefer the risks that are safest, or most common. A house with non standard construction materials may be considered either a high risk, or an unknown one. A high risk would be something like a thatch roof. These are normally considered a very high fire hazard due to their flammable nature. An unknown risk would be an exotic flat roof material imported from abroad. Now, while either of these scenarios might in actual fact be low risks depending on the circumstances of the property and it's owner, the insurance companies traditionally will not be willing to consider them. Blanket “No” policies exist throughout the market, so that no matter how safe your property actually is, you will be turned away without given the space to explain your circumstances adequately.

But it doesn't have to be this way. There are many different types of homes of a non-standard nature dotted around the countryside and situated in urban areas. The variety of housing found in the UK is incredibly diverse; from the boldly beautiful to the obscurely ugly (according to individual taste) and everywhere in between. It isn't just the thatched cottages and listed timber-frame Tudor homes that people often think of as non-standard, but also the concrete pre-fabricated properties that sprang up to replace buildings lost in the Blitz. Unlike the medieval thatched homes that have stood for centuries, the concrete temporary housing of the 50's were never intended to last so long. For this reason, both might bear the stigma of “non-standard-ness”, but each is at the opposite end of the spectrum.

You may encounter difficulties when trying to buy a non-standard home, not just when finding the buildings insurance necessary to obtain a mortgage, but also when you try to get a mortgage itself. Lenders tend to look upon non-standard homes with the same suspicious gaze that insurers often adopt. There are a number of reasons for this, the first being demand. Because demand for non-standard housing is rather more restricted than that for an ordinary property, mortgage providers (always anticipating the worst) think that it will be harder for them to recoup their losses if you default on your mortgage. The second reason is maintenance. Because a non-standard home may require more TLC than the norm, lenders worry that you will not maintain it as it needs to be maintained. Again, poor maintenance can lead to decreased property values and could result in the lender losing out in the event of foreclosure.

If you are thinking of buying a non standard property, there are a few basic precautious you should take to minimise the hassle you might otherwise experience. Firstly, be aware of what constitutes a non standard material and whether the house you are looking to buy has any. Appearances might be deceiving. A property with an asbestos roof will look no different to a normal house, but the implications of that kind of ownership are very series. Secondly, plan out any extra costs and work that the non standard nature of the property will create. There may be legal, conveyance, and mortgage implications in your decision. You need to make sure that you have the budget and available resources to deal with this aspect. And finally, you need to make sure you can find an insurance company that is prepared to provide you with correct cover, with respect to your non standard materials. While many may refuse to even give you a quote, with HomeProtect you can apply online for non-standard home insurance at a competitive price. No matter what type of home you have, as long as it is located within the UK and sits on fixed foundations, we can supply the home insurance protection you need.