Wind damage is usually covered by homeowners insurance, and on the Front Range it often falls under the same percentage-based deductible as hail rather than a flat one. The covered part is straightforward. The deductible is the part that surprises people.
The mountain communities west of Lakewood see wind that flatland homeowners do not. Downslope windstorms coming off the foothills can drive gusts past 100 miles per hour, and that is a different category of event from an ordinary gusty day.
If wind damage has let water into your home, call 303-816-0068. American Restoration answers 24/7 across Lakewood and the mountain communities.
Is wind damage covered
Generally yes, as a covered peril, though the deductible and the cause of any resulting water decide the claim.
Wind damage is a named peril on standard homeowners policies. What it does to the roof, siding, windows, fences, and trees is typically covered. Where claims get complicated is the deductible that applies and whether water that entered afterward is treated as wind damage or as something excluded.
The covered peril has to be the wind. Damage a carrier can attribute to age, wear, or poor maintenance rather than to a wind event is where denials cluster.
The wind and hail deductible
On the Front Range, wind is frequently bundled with hail under a single percentage deductible rather than the flat deductible that applies to other perils.
The Colorado Division of Insurance confirms that many homeowner policies carry wind and hail deductibles set as a percentage of coverage, giving 1, 2, and 5 percent as examples (doi.colorado.gov/news-releases-consumer-advisories/consumer-advisory-divi…).
The base for that wind damage deductible is the whole insured value of the home, not the cost of the damage. On a home insured for 500,000 dollars, a 2 percent deductible is 10,000 dollars before the carrier pays anything. A single ripped section of shingles or a wind-damaged fence often falls under that threshold entirely, which means the covered claim returns nothing. The DOI is explicit that where the estimate falls below the deductible, no payment issues. How your deductible works covers this.
What foothills wind does
The wind west of Lakewood is stronger and more sudden than most homeowners plan for, and it damages structures in specific ways.
Downslope windstorms form when air rushes down the east face of the foothills, and gusts well over 100 miles per hour are recorded in the mountain communities during strong events. That is enough to strip shingles, peel gutters and flashing, tear siding, and put trees and limbs onto roofs.
The tree-fall pattern matters here because it is common and because it introduces water. A limb through a roof opens the building envelope, and the next precipitation enters through it. Whether that water is covered usually depends on whether the opening came from a covered peril, which a wind-driven tree strike generally is.
Wind-driven rain and the water question
Water that enters through a wind-created opening is usually covered. Water that enters an intact building generally is not.
The distinction is where the water got in. If wind removed shingles or drove a limb through the roof and rain then entered through that opening, the resulting water damage is typically covered because it followed a covered peril. If rain was driven through an existing gap, an aging roof, or a poorly sealed window with no wind-created opening, carriers often treat it as maintenance and decline it.
Water rising from the ground is never wind damage regardless of what the storm was doing. That is flood, and it is excluded from homeowners policies entirely. Whether insurance covers flood damage covers that line.
However the water entered, it has to be dried fast. The EPA states that drying wet materials within 24 to 48 hours will in most cases prevent mold growth (epa.gov/mold/brief-guide-mold-moisture-and-your-home). Emergency water mitigation covers that phase.
What to do after wind damage
Document the event and the damage, mitigate the opening, and hold off on permanent repairs until the adjuster inspects.
Record the date and approximate time of the windstorm, because the carrier checks it against weather records. Photograph the roof from the ground, the siding, fences, downed trees, and any interior water entry before touching anything.
Mitigate to prevent further loss, which the policy requires. Tarp a breached roof, cover broken windows, and get water out. The Colorado DOI advises tarping roofs and covering openings as appropriate after a storm. What to do after storm damage covers the full sequence.
Keep damaged materials for the adjuster, and do not make permanent repairs early, since temporary protection preserves the claim while permanent work invites dispute.
Choosing a contractor after wind damage
You select the contractor, and the door-knocking crews that follow a windstorm warrant the same caution as after hail.
Colorado Revised Statutes section 10-4-120 requires an insurer to inform you that you may select any repair business of your choosing (codes.findlaw.com/co/title-10-insurance/co-rev-st-sect-10-4-120/). Any contractor offering to waive or absorb your deductible is proposing insurance fraud, which is illegal in Colorado and a clear sign to look elsewhere. Whether you must use a preferred contractor covers your rights.
American Restoration has operated in Lakewood and the surrounding mountain communities since 1996 and holds IICRC Triple Master Certification in Water Restoration, Fire and Smoke Restoration, and Textile Cleaning.
If a wind damage claim is denied
Ask for the specific policy language, in writing, then escalate through the regulator.
The Colorado Division of Insurance advises asking the adjuster for an itemized explanation and, in a disagreement, for the specific policy language at issue. The Division investigates complaints at 303-894-7490. Colorado’s bad-faith statute, C.R.S. sections 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116, allows a claimant to recover two times the covered benefit plus attorney fees where a carrier unreasonably delays or denies a covered claim, which is an attorney’s matter rather than a contractor’s.
The bottom line
Wind damage is generally covered, usually under a percentage deductible that can leave smaller claims returning nothing, and resulting water is covered when it entered through a wind-created opening.
In the foothills, plan for wind stronger than the flatlands see. Document the event, mitigate the opening fast, read your declarations page for the wind and hail deductible, and choose your own contractor.
If wind damage has let water into a home in Lakewood, Morrison, Evergreen, Conifer, Pine, Bailey, Kittredge, or Littleton, call 303-816-0068.
