A roofer in the UK, or a roofing company in the US, can read the risky weeks off a calendar. In the UK, the Met Office records Storm Amy, on 3 and 4 October 2025, as the first named storm of its 2025/26 season and an unusually severe one for October. In the US, NOAA's hurricane forecasters date the Atlantic hurricane season from the start of June to the end of November. After a severe storm, the National Roofing Contractors Association says owners should assess roof damage from ground level, and the Federal Trade Commission warns that home-repair scammers might find homeowners after a windstorm and pressure them to act quickly. The UK government's press release of 28 August 2026 says over a quarter of UK adults who had home improvement work done in the past 18 months ran into problems. The storm week is the worst time to be writing ad copy. The claims a roofer most wants to make then, about insurance and speed, are the ones state law and scam warnings fence in, and a badge that needs an inspection before joining, as NFRC requires of its members, cannot be added once the first gale lands. Choose the agency and settle the wording, the badges and the storm rules with it while the roofs are dry, and let its documents show you whether it can.
A guarantee ad and the note behind it
Illustrative extracts, written for this article. UK ad: "NFRC member. TrustMark registered. 10-year guarantee." US ad: "Storm damage? We file your insurance claim for you. Call today." Approval note on both: "Approved by client, 14 March."
That note records that someone said yes, and nothing about whether the claims are true. A note worth having names the register checked and the date, says which rules applied, and lists what the guarantee leaves out.
For the UK line, CAP Code rules 3.52 and 3.53 bar marketing from showing a trust mark or quality mark it is not authorised to use. NFRC says its membership is voluntary, so an unbadged roofer can be a good one, but a badge in an ad must be one the firm holds. TrustMark advises homeowners to make sure a tradesperson is registered with it for the trade they need, so the note should name the trade scheme too. The guarantee is where roofing ads go wrong most quietly. ASA guidance says an ad must not leave out significant limitations, and its example is a warranty covering parts but not labour. NFRC recommends that homeowners buy an Insurance Backed Guarantee, since even the best contractors can go out of business and their own guarantees then become worthless, so the note should say which of the two the ad means, and list the exclusions the customer will find in the small print.
The US line needs a state named in the note, because the rules quoted below are state law, and Texas and Florida set them differently. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, a roofer who is also doing the repairs may not act as the policyholder's public insurance adjuster, or advertise that service, and its examples of improper language include offering to file a claim for the policyholder, so on that page's wording the ad above would not pass in Texas. In Florida, statute 489.147 treats an ad urging a consumer to contact a contractor about a roof-damage insurance claim as prohibited unless it states, in type of at least 12 points and at least half the size of its largest type, among other things, that the consumer is responsible for any insurance deductible, and statute 489.119 requires each advertisement to carry the contractor's registration or certification number (Florida Statutes 2026).
How the reviews were asked for and answered
Review log, March (illustrative): Requests sent: 12, to customers who scored the job 5 out of 5 on the job sheet. Reviews published: 9. Replies to the two 3-star reviews: none.
This log asks only the happy customers and leaves the unhappy ones unanswered. The UK Competition and Markets Authority's guidance of 4 April 2025 says cherry-picking positive reviews can happen by encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews. A log you can rely on shows a request for every completed job, every published review matched to a job record, and a reply to each low score.
That job record matters because, under CAP rule 3.47, a marketer must hold evidence that each testimonial is genuine, and contact details for whoever gave it. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's final rule, announced on 14 August 2024, also bars a business from claiming that reviews on its site represent all or most of those submitted when low ones have been suppressed.
One page of the monthly report
Report, March (illustrative): Leads: 52. Cost per lead: £38. Average rating: 4.8.
Counting leads and stopping there is the gap in this page. Google's Local Services Ads help page says an advertiser pays only when a customer gets in touch from the ad, so a cheap lead is not yet a booked inspection or a won job. The same page says that how likely an ad is to result in a lead depends on several factors, including responsiveness, and that missed calls may negatively affect that responsiveness.
A page worth reading splits calls answered from calls missed, then shows inspections booked, quotes issued and quotes won, with repairs kept apart from full re-roofs. It prices each booked inspection and each won job, not just each lead. In the US it also separates jobs that began with an insurance claim from retail jobs. Ask for it monthly, and ask who will talk you through it. If results stall after a few months, our post on the signs your marketing agency isn't working covers what to look for.
The contract clause on storm weeks
Contract clause (illustrative): "During severe weather the agency may raise daily ad spend and launch storm-response ads without prior approval, to respond quickly."
That clause hands the agency the two decisions that carry the most risk in a storm week: how much to spend and what the ads say. A storm-response ad is where insurance wording appears, and in Texas and Florida that wording is fenced in by the state rules above. It is also the week the scam warnings are written for, so an ad that sounds rushed does you no favours. A clause worth signing keeps a spending cap you set, needs your written approval for any new storm ad, names the state rule its wording was checked against, and lets you pause everything with one phone call. Set the notice and renewal dates against the storm calendar as well, so the contract cannot lapse or roll over in the weeks you hired the agency for.
When hiring can wait
An agency earns its fee when you have the paperwork and not the hours. If you cannot yet show a badge you hold, a licence or registration number where your state asks for one, or job records behind your reviews, an agency has nothing true to amplify. Fixing that yourself, or paying a freelancer to set up your Google profile and review requests, can be the cheaper first step. A roofing specialist may know these rules sooner than a generalist, but the paperwork is the test either way. This guide is written by a marketing agency that would like to be hired, so weigh its advice with that interest in mind. What we cover for roofing firms is on marketing for roofers.
Take this into the meeting
- Show me an ad approval note that names the register checked, the date and the rules applied.
- Tell me how the guarantee line is worded, what it excludes, and whether an Insurance Backed Guarantee is offered separately.
- Show me the review log: a request for every completed job, and a job record behind every review you quote.
- Show me one report page with calls answered, inspections booked, quotes won, and repairs split from re-roofs.
- Show me the storm-week clause: who approves a new storm ad, what caps the spend, and how I pause it all.
- Tell me who signs off any page that says whether a job needs planning permission, because the Planning Portal says re-roofing a house in a way that does not materially affect its external appearance will usually not need planning permission in England.
Whether you run one van or a full roofing company, you can tell us about your business and hear back well before the next storm season.
↳ Frequently asked
01Should storm-response roofing ads go live without my approval?
No. After a storm, the claims a roofing ad is tempted to make, about insurance claims and fast repairs, are the ones Texas and Florida rules restrict, and scam warnings tell homeowners to be wary of pressure to act quickly. Agree the storm ad wording in a quiet month, and keep written approval of any new storm ad in your own hands.
02Should a roofing advert say whether my guarantee is insurance backed?
In our view, yes, whenever the ad mentions a guarantee at all. UK advertising rules say an ad must not omit significant limitations on a guarantee, and NFRC advises buying an Insurance Backed Guarantee, since a contractor's own guarantee is only as good as the contractor's business. Give the agency the exact wording, who stands behind it and what it leaves out, and ask to see the approved wording before the ad runs.
03Should a roofing agency's report show the calls I missed after a storm?
Yes, if it runs Google Local Services Ads or any call-led campaign. Google says missed calls may negatively affect responsiveness, one of the factors in how likely an ad is to result in a lead. A report that counts leads but hides calls answered and calls missed hides the part you control. Ask for both, month by month, and for the weeks after any storm.