The short answer
MyJobQuote's emergency roofer guide (October 2026) says call-out charges typically range from £150 to £300 across the UK. That covers getting someone to your roof, and it can include making it safe. A permanent repair is priced on top of it, and extensive storm damage can reach £1,200 or more, so ask for one total price in writing before work begins.
The call-out range, named and dated
National cost guides give a starting point. Each number below is a typical UK range from the guide named beside it, and none is a price list for our own roof repairs. MyJobQuote's emergency roofer page, last updated in October 2026, says emergency call-out charges typically range from £150 to £300.
That sum buys a roofer attending a roof that cannot wait, and it can include a make-safe: covering a hole, securing loose coverings or stopping the water getting in. It does not buy a finished repair. Think of it as the cost of stopping the damage from spreading.
A second MyJobQuote guide, on roof maintenance and updated in the same month, puts an average roof repair in 2026 at around £650. Which? (November 2025) gives £75 to £400 for replacing between one and six broken tiles, and states that its prices exclude VAT.
Keep in mind that guides measure different jobs. A figure for six tiles is not a figure for a storm, and a call-out range is not a repair price. When two sources differ, the reason can be the job each one describes.
For the wider picture, our guide to the cost of a roof repair sets out the other ranges.
Why storm repairs cost more
MyJobQuote says storm repairs start at around £300, and puts extensive storm damage at £1,200 or more. The gap between those two numbers is the whole story. A few displaced tiles after a gale and a hole where a branch came through are different jobs, and they are priced as different jobs.
Several things move the total. Height and roof shape set how the work is reached, and a steep slope or a roof over a conservatory may need a scaffold tower or full scaffolding. The covering matters, because slate, clay and concrete tiles, and flat roof membranes all repair differently. Beyond those, what lies under the covering counts for most: whether the timbers and underlay beneath the covering are sound, or whether the water has already travelled inside.
You cannot know that from the ground. It is the reason a proper survey comes before any permanent price. We photograph what is found, explain it in plain words and then put a single figure in writing.
If a roofer quotes for a full repair over the phone, without seeing the damage, treat the number as a guess rather than a price.
Getting the emergency price in writing
Whether the job is a make-safe or a repair, ask for a single total in writing before anything is done. It should be one figure for the whole of the work described, with the description beside it.
Check two points on any emergency quote. First, whether VAT is included. The standard rate is 20 per cent, and a quote that leaves it out can turn out noticeably higher when the bill arrives. Second, whether scaffolding is part of the price. Scaffolding that stands on the public highway needs a Highways Act licence, issued in Hampshire by Hampshire County Council, and that adds a wait which a make-safe usually avoids.
Ask what the make-safe does and what it leaves for later. A tarpaulin or temporary patch holds for a short period and is not a repair. Our guide to temporary roof repairs sets out the difference.
Where time allows, Citizens Advice recommends collecting 3 or more written quotes before choosing. An emergency may not allow that, and so the written scope of the make-safe matters all the more. It is the one thing you can fix on paper in minutes.
Speed, promises and being careful
Emergencies make people vulnerable to pressure. Be cautious of anyone who arrives unannounced saying they spotted a problem, anyone who asks for payment in full before starting, and anyone who offers a rock-bottom call-out and then finds a larger fault the moment they are on the roof.
Equally, treat promises about timing with care. No honest roofer can guarantee when a job will be completed before seeing the roof, because access, weather and the extent of the damage all decide it. A leaking roof gets made safe first with us, and the order of work after that follows from what the survey shows.
If your home insurance might respond to the damage, ring the insurer before you spend anything. Hold on to pictures and receipts from the make-safe, because a claim leans on that evidence. Our guide to storm damage and home insurance covers the details. Your policy's own definition of a storm will matter, so read it before you assume anything is paid.
For work that is not urgent, give yourself time. Photographs, a written scope and one total price make comparing a second quote far easier.
