Roof-related damage is the single largest driver of homeowners insurance claims in the United States. Insurers do not track a line item called “roof leak.” They record losses by peril, and the two perils that a roof exists to defend against, wind and hail plus water damage and freezing, together account for roughly two thirds of all property claims. This report compiles verified claim frequency and severity figures by cause, from the Insurance Information Institute (III) and its underlying ISO/Verisk data, the LexisNexis 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Trends Report, CoreLogic severe convective storm data, and State Farm winter claim data.
Executive summary
- Wind and hail is the most frequent homeowners peril at 2.82 claims per 100 insured homes per year, and it made up 40.7% of all property claims in 2022 (ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022).
- Water damage and freezing is the second most frequent peril at 1.61 claims per 100 homes and 27.6% of 2022 property claims, with an average payout of $13,954 (ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022).
- The two roof-exposed weather perils, wind/hail and water/freezing, together represented 68.3% of homeowners property claims in 2022 (Roofing Brief calculation on ISO/Verisk data).
- Fire and lightning is rare (0.24 claims per 100 homes) but by far the costliest per event at $83,991 average severity, about 6.2 times a wind or hail claim (ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022).
- About 5.5% of insured homes filed a claim in 2022, roughly 1 in 18 homes; the 2018 to 2022 average was 5.8% (ISO/Verisk).
- Wind claim severity rose 23.5% and wind loss costs rose 30.7% from 2023 to 2024, the largest single-year jump among perils (LexisNexis, 2025).
- Catastrophe claims reached 42% of all home claims and 64% of total losses in 2024, a seven-year high (LexisNexis, 2025).
- State Farm reported that the average ice dam or frozen pipe claim exceeded $30,000 from 2024 through June 2025.
Key findings
- Wind and hail claims occurred at 2.82 per 100 insured homes per year, the highest frequency of any peril. Geography: United States excluding Alaska, Texas, and Puerto Rico. Source: ISO, a Verisk business, 2018 to 2022, via III.
- The average wind and hail claim paid $13,511. Time frame: 2018 to 2022. Source: ISO/Verisk via III.
- Water damage and freezing claims occurred at 1.61 per 100 insured homes per year. Source: ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022, via III.
- The average water damage and freezing claim paid $13,954, slightly higher than the average wind and hail claim. Source: ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022, via III.
- Fire and lightning claims occurred at 0.24 per 100 homes but averaged $83,991, the highest severity of any peril. Source: ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022, via III.
- Theft claims occurred at 0.14 per 100 homes and averaged $5,024. Source: ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022, via III.
- In 2022, property damage was 97.8% of all homeowners claims: wind and hail 40.7%, water damage and freezing 27.6%, fire and lightning 21.9%, all other 6.9%, and theft 0.7%. Liability was 2.1%. Source: ISO/Verisk via III.
- About 5.5% of insured homes filed a claim in 2022, and 5.8% on the 2018 to 2022 average, roughly 1 in 18 homes per year. Source: ISO/Verisk via III.
- All-peril claim severity rose 9% from 2023 to 2024, the largest single-year increase in seven years. Source: LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Trends Report.
- Wind claim severity rose 23.5% and wind loss cost rose 30.7% from 2023 to 2024, while wind frequency rose 5.8%. Source: LexisNexis, 2025.
- Weather-related water loss cost rose 25.4% and severity rose 29.6% from 2023 to 2024; 64% of those claims were catastrophic. Non-weather water loss cost fell 4.3%. Source: LexisNexis, 2025.
- Hail loss cost ran 19% above the seven-year average in 2024, and nearly two thirds of hail claims were catastrophic. Source: LexisNexis, 2025.
- In 2024, hail two inches or larger fell on more than 567,000 U.S. homes with a combined reconstruction cost value of $160 billion; Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas accounted for about 72%. Source: CoreLogic (Cotality) 2025 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report.
- State Farm reported the average ice dam or frozen pipe claim exceeded $30,000 from 2024 through June 2025, with more than 20,000 frozen-pipe claims nationwide and paid losses above $628 million. Source: State Farm, 2024 to June 2025.
- Lightning caused $1.2 billion in U.S. homeowners claim payouts in 2023. Source: Insurance Information Institute, 2024.
How roof claims are categorized
There is no standardized “roof leak” claim category in industry loss data. ISO/Verisk, the data engine behind most homeowners statistics, classifies losses by peril: wind and hail, water damage and freezing, fire and lightning, theft, liability, and all other. A roof failure can appear under several of these headings. A wind-torn or hail-bruised roof cover files as wind and hail. Interior water intrusion through a compromised roof, flashing, or ice dam files as water damage and freezing. A roof struck by lightning files as fire and lightning. This report treats wind/hail and water/freezing as the roof-exposed perils, because the roof assembly is the primary defense against both, while noting that not every water or freezing claim originates at the roof.
Frequency by cause
Frequency is expressed as claims per 100 insured homes per year, a standard ISO/Verisk measure. Wind and hail leads at 2.82, followed by water damage and freezing at 1.61 and all other property damage at 0.89. Fire and lightning, theft, and liability claims are comparatively rare.
| Peril | Claims per 100 homes/yr | Share of 2022 property claims |
|---|---|---|
| Wind and hail | 2.82 | 40.7% |
| Water damage and freezing | 1.61 | 27.6% |
| Fire and lightning | 0.24 | 21.9% |
| All other property damage | 0.89 | 6.9% |
| Theft | 0.14 | 0.7% |
Source: ISO, a Verisk business, 2018 to 2022 (frequency) and 2022 (share), via the Insurance Information Institute. Coverage excludes Alaska, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
Cost by cause
Severity is the average dollar amount paid per claim. Fire and lightning is the outlier: a rare event that costs the most when it happens. Wind/hail and water/freezing sit close together near $13,500 to $14,000. The high frequency of those two perils, not their per-claim size, is what makes them the dominant drivers of homeowners losses.
| Peril | Average claim severity |
|---|---|
| Fire and lightning | $83,991 |
| Water damage and freezing | $13,954 |
| Wind and hail | $13,511 |
| Theft | $5,024 |
| All other property damage | $7,798 |
Source: ISO, a Verisk business, 2018 to 2022, via the Insurance Information Institute.
What changed in 2024
The most recent industry data shows a sharp shift toward larger, catastrophe-driven losses. Overall claim frequency fell 11.6% from 2023 to 2024, but severity climbed and catastrophe events dominated. Wind was the standout mover.
- All perils: severity up 9%, frequency down 11.6%, loss cost 49.7% higher than 2019. Catastrophe claims were 42% of all claims and 64% of losses.
- Wind: severity up 23.5%, loss cost up 30.7%, frequency up 5.8%.
- Hail: loss cost 19% above the seven-year average, nearly two thirds of claims catastrophic.
- Weather-related water: loss cost up 25.4%, severity up 29.6%, frequency down 3.2%.
- Non-weather water: loss cost down 4.3%, severity up 6.2%, frequency down 9.9%.
- Fire and lightning: loss cost down 3%, severity up 12.2%, frequency down 13.5%.
Source: LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Trends Report (2023 to 2024 comparison).
Weather perils that hit the roof first
Severe convective storms are the mechanism behind most wind and hail roof claims. CoreLogic (now Cotality) estimated that in 2024, hail two inches in diameter or larger struck more than 567,000 U.S. homes, carrying a combined reconstruction cost value of $160 billion. Texas alone saw more than 180,000 homes affected, and five states, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, accounted for about 72% of impacted homes. The single most damaging event was an Oklahoma City hailstorm on September 24, 2024, which struck about 35,000 homes.
Source: CoreLogic (Cotality) 2025 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report.
Freezing, ice dams, and winter roof leaks
Freezing sits inside the water damage and freezing peril, and winter roof leaks from ice dams are a recurring cold-climate cost. State Farm data for 2024 through June 2025 put the average ice dam or frozen pipe claim above $30,000, well above the all-peril water average, and recorded more than 20,000 frozen-pipe claims nationwide with paid losses exceeding $628 million. A January 2026 snowstorm generated about 16,000 ice dam claims nationally in its immediate aftermath.
Source: State Farm, 2024 to June 2025 and January 2026.
Roofing Brief calculations (original synthesis)
The following figures are derived by The Roofing Brief from published inputs. They are labeled as calculations, not published statistics.
1. Roof-exposed perils were 68.3% of property claims in 2022
Logic: add the 2022 property-claim shares of the two perils a roof assembly defends against. Wind and hail (40.7%) plus water damage and freezing (27.6%) equals 68.3%. Inputs: ISO/Verisk 2022 claim distribution via III. Limitation: not every water and freezing claim originates at the roof (some are plumbing or appliance failures), so this is an upper-bound proxy for roof-exposed claims, not a measured roof-origin share.
2. Annual odds of a claim by peril
Logic: invert the ISO/Verisk frequency (100 divided by claims per 100 homes). Result: wind and hail about 1 in 35 homes per year, water and freezing about 1 in 62, all other property damage about 1 in 112, fire and lightning about 1 in 417, and theft about 1 in 714. Inputs: ISO/Verisk 2018 to 2022 frequency via III. Limitation: national averages that mask large state and metro variation.
3. Expected annual loss per policy by peril (pure-premium proxy)
Logic: multiply frequency (per 100 homes) by average severity, then divide by 100 to get expected dollars per policy per year. Results: wind and hail about $381, water and freezing about $225, fire and lightning about $202, all other about $69, and theft about $7. Combined, these five perils imply roughly $884 in expected annual property loss per policy before expenses and profit load. Inputs: ISO/Verisk 2018 to 2022 frequency and severity via III. Limitation: this is a raw loss-cost proxy, not an actual premium, and excludes reinsurance, expenses, and catastrophe loading.
4. Frequency gap between the two roof-exposed perils
Logic: divide wind/hail frequency by water/freezing frequency (2.82 divided by 1.61). Wind and hail claims are about 1.75 times as frequent as water and freezing claims, even though their average severities are within 3% of each other. Inputs: ISO/Verisk 2018 to 2022 via III. Limitation: severities are period averages and do not reflect the 2024 catastrophe-driven wind spike.
Chart recommendations
- Frequency vs severity scatter by peril. Data: claims per 100 homes on the x axis, average severity on the y axis, per peril. Source: ISO/Verisk via III. Insight: fire is a low-frequency, high-cost outlier while wind/hail and water/freezing cluster as high-frequency, mid-cost perils. Citation-worthy because it visualizes why frequent perils drive loss costs.
- 2022 property-claim share donut. Data: peril share of property claims. Source: ISO/Verisk via III. Insight: two roof-exposed perils make up 68.3% of claims. Useful single-image summary for journalists.
- Wind peril 2023 to 2024 change bars. Data: severity +23.5%, loss cost +30.7%, frequency +5.8%. Source: LexisNexis 2025. Insight: wind is the fastest-worsening peril.
- Pure-premium-by-peril bar. Data: expected dollars per policy per year (Roofing Brief calculation). Insight: ranks perils by true cost burden, not just frequency or severity alone.
Methodology
Source selection prioritized primary claim data. The frequency and severity table comes from ISO, a Verisk Analytics business, covering 2018 to 2022 across HO-2, HO-3, HO-5, and HE-7 policy forms and excluding Alaska, Texas, and Puerto Rico, as published by the Insurance Information Institute. Trend data comes from the LexisNexis Risk Solutions 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Trends Report, comparing 2023 and 2024. Catastrophe exposure comes from the CoreLogic (Cotality) 2025 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report. Winter claim figures come from State Farm. Where two sources disagreed, the ISO/Verisk baseline was used for structural frequency and severity, and LexisNexis was used for recent year-over-year direction, with both periods stated explicitly. Derived figures are labeled as Roofing Brief calculations with inputs and limitations. Any figure that could not be traced to a named source and period was excluded. Last updated July 2026.
Source quality ranking
- Tier 1 (primary): ISO/Verisk claim frequency and severity via the Insurance Information Institute; Insurance Information Institute lightning payout release.
- Tier 2 (credible industry data): LexisNexis Risk Solutions 2025 U.S. Home Insurance Trends Report; CoreLogic (Cotality) 2025 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report; State Farm winter claim data.
- Tier 3 (reputable journalism): trade-press summaries used only to locate the underlying figures, not as the figure of record.
- Excluded: unsourced roundup pages, AI-generated statistics pages, and blog posts without a named data source or year.
Most quotable statistics
- Wind and hail plus water and freezing make up 68.3% of homeowners property claims (Roofing Brief calculation on ISO/Verisk 2022 data).
- Wind and hail hits about 1 in 35 insured homes every year (Roofing Brief calculation on ISO/Verisk).
- The average fire and lightning claim, $83,991, costs about 6.2 times the average wind or hail claim (ISO/Verisk, 2018 to 2022).
- Wind loss costs jumped 30.7% in a single year, 2023 to 2024 (LexisNexis, 2025).
- The average ice dam or frozen pipe claim topped $30,000 (State Farm, 2024 to June 2025).
Data limitations
The ISO/Verisk table excludes Alaska, Texas, and Puerto Rico, which understates hail-heavy Texas in national roof-peril figures. Industry data records perils, not roof origin, so a “roof leak” cannot be isolated as a discrete category. Frequency and severity are 2018 to 2022 averages and predate the 2024 catastrophe spike. State Farm figures reflect one carrier, not the whole market. CoreLogic reconstruction cost values are modeled exposure, not paid claims. All derived figures are proxies and are labeled as calculations.
Downloadable dataset recommended fields
- peril_category
- claims_per_100_homes
- average_severity_usd
- share_of_property_claims_pct
- data_period
- geography_coverage
- yoy_loss_cost_change_pct
- catastrophe_claim_share_pct
- source_name
- source_tier
Press summary
Roof-related damage is the biggest single driver of U.S. homeowners insurance claims. Insurers do not track “roof leaks” as a category; they track perils. The two perils a roof exists to stop, wind and hail and water damage and freezing, together made up 68.3% of all property claims in 2022, according to a Roofing Brief calculation on ISO/Verisk data published by the Insurance Information Institute. Wind and hail alone strikes about 1 in 35 insured homes a year. Fire is rare but costliest, averaging $83,991 a claim, roughly 6.2 times a wind or hail claim. The picture is worsening: LexisNexis reported wind loss costs rose 30.7% from 2023 to 2024, and catastrophe events reached 64% of all losses. In winter, State Farm put the average ice dam or frozen pipe claim above $30,000. The through-line is clear: the roof is where most claims begin.
Suggested headlines
- Two Roof Perils Drive Two Thirds of Home Insurance Claims
- Wind and Hail Hits 1 in 35 Insured Homes a Year
- Wind Loss Costs Jumped 30% in a Single Year
- The $30,000 Winter Roof Leak: What Ice Dams Cost
- Fire Is Rare but Costs 6 Times a Hail Claim
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common cause of homeowners insurance claims?
Wind and hail, at 2.82 claims per 100 insured homes per year, and 40.7% of all property claims in 2022 (ISO/Verisk via III).
How much does the average water damage claim cost?
Water damage and freezing averaged $13,954 per claim from 2018 to 2022 (ISO/Verisk via III).
Is roof leak a separate insurance claim category?
No. Insurers record losses by peril, not by roof origin. Roof-related damage appears under wind and hail, water damage and freezing, or fire and lightning depending on the cause.
What share of home insurance claims are roof-related?
Wind/hail and water/freezing, the two roof-exposed perils, together made up 68.3% of 2022 property claims (Roofing Brief calculation on ISO/Verisk data). Not all of the water and freezing share originates at the roof.
How often does a home file an insurance claim?
About 5.5% of insured homes filed a claim in 2022, roughly 1 in 18, with a 5.8% average from 2018 to 2022 (ISO/Verisk via III).
Which peril is the most expensive per claim?
Fire and lightning, averaging $83,991 per claim from 2018 to 2022, about 6.2 times a wind or hail claim (ISO/Verisk via III).
Are roof claims getting more expensive?
Yes. Wind severity rose 23.5% and wind loss cost rose 30.7% from 2023 to 2024, and all-peril severity rose 9% (LexisNexis, 2025).
How much does an ice dam claim cost?
State Farm reported the average ice dam or frozen pipe claim exceeded $30,000 from 2024 through June 2025.
How many homes get hit by large hail each year?
In 2024, hail two inches or larger struck more than 567,000 U.S. homes with a modeled reconstruction cost value of $160 billion (CoreLogic/Cotality, 2025).
Why are wind and hail claims so frequent but not the most expensive?
They damage the roof cover, which is common and repairable, so they occur often (2.82 per 100 homes) at a mid-range severity near $13,511, while fire is rare but catastrophic (ISO/Verisk via III).
Related Roofing Brief research
- Roof Age and Hail Claim Severity (2026)
- Homeowners Insurance Premiums by Roof Type and Age (2026)
- Winter Roof Collapse and Snow-Load Losses (2026)
- FAIR Plan Growth and the Roof-Condition Squeeze (2026)
- Learn About Roofing
Reviewed by The Roofing Brief Team. Last reviewed July 2026.