Storm damage paint claims in Hobart - what insurers actually cover.
A front comes through, a limb goes through the weatherboards, and the first question is whether insurance pays for the repaint. The answer rarely depends on how bad the paint looks now. It depends on what the coating looked like the day before the storm.
Sudden and accidental, or gradual and yours.
Every home policy sold in Australia turns on one distinction. Sudden and accidental damage from a defined event - storm, tempest, impact, falling tree - is insured. Wear, tear and gradual deterioration is excluded, because it is maintenance and it is yours. Paint sits on that line more than any other part of a house, which is why paint claims are declined more often than roof or fence claims.
The test is worth knowing before you lodge anything. Would a coating in sound condition have survived this event? If a hailstone scarred through a two-year-old topcoat, no, and you have a claim. If a 40 knot westerly lifted flakes off a south elevation that had been blistering for four years, yes, and the exclusion applies. That is not the insurer being difficult. It is the actual bargain in the policy.
Why Hobart claims are harder than mainland claims.
Hobart does not get south-east Queensland's hail frequency. What it gets is persistent westerly wind off open ocean, driving rain onto exposed elevations dozens of times a winter rather than twice a decade. That damage is cumulative, which is exactly the profile insurers exclude. Sun compounds it: at 42 degrees south our south-facing walls get no direct winter sun for months, so they stay damp and lichen colonises the coating.
Where Hobart claims do get paid is impact. Mature blue gums through the older inner suburbs drop limbs in a decent blow, and a limb strike through weatherboards or render is unambiguous, datable and photographable. Roof-lift letting wind-driven rain into a cavity is the other reliable one, and it is worth pairing with a look at the roof coating itself - our roof paint versus restoration guide covers where that line sits.
What actually gets approved.
Typically paid: limb impact through weatherboard, render or fibro. Hail scarring through a sound coating. Wind-driven rain entering behind a lifted roof sheet. Debris strike from a neighbouring property. Vehicle impact.
Typically declined: flaking on an elevation that was already chalking. Mould and lichen, treated as maintenance everywhere in the market. Rust bleed from nail heads. Blistering from moisture migrating out of the wall. Fading. Anything on a coating past its rated life, which here is 6 to 8 years for weatherboard and 8 to 10 for render - see how often Hobart exteriors really need repainting.
What a real claim scope looks like.
A single-storey 1958 weatherboard in Moonah. A limb comes through the north-west corner in a winter blow, splitting three boards and scarring about 22 square metres of that elevation. The rest of the house was repainted in 2021 and is sound.
The scope: make-safe and weather protection, 450 dollars. Lead swab testing, 280 to 480 dollars, because the home is pre-1970. Board replacement quoted by the carpenter separately. Lead-safe controlled preparation over the disturbed 22 square metres at 45 to 95 dollars per square metre, so roughly 990 to 2,090 dollars. Prime, seal and two-coat finish across the full elevation to the corner and downpipe line, about 38 square metres at 45 to 85 dollars per square metre, so 1,710 to 3,230 dollars. Total in the order of 3,400 to 6,200 dollars in 2026 rates.
Note what is not in it. We do not scope the other three elevations or the roof, and we do not roll the 2021 coating's normal ageing into the claim. That restraint is why it gets approved. Rates come from the Hobart painting price guide, and the work runs through our exterior house painting process once the insurer signs off.
Common questions about storm damage paint claims in Hobart.
Does home insurance cover repainting after a Hobart storm?
It covers repainting where the damage follows a sudden insured event - a limb through the weatherboards, hail scarring, rain driven in behind a lifted roof sheet. It does not cover a coating that was already at end of life when the storm arrived. The test an assessor applies is whether a sound coating would have survived the same event.
Why do paint claims in Hobart get knocked back as gradual deterioration?
Every policy excludes wear, tear and gradual deterioration, and paint is the easiest thing on a house to prove was already going. Our south and west elevations get almost no winter sun, so mould and blistering build up over years and show in any photograph the assessor pulls up. The storm becomes the trigger, not the cause.
How much will the insurer repaint - the damaged bit or the whole wall?
The entitlement is repair to the damaged area, not a free repaint. We scope to the nearest natural break - a corner, a downpipe line, a change of plane - because a patch mid-run will never colour-match weathered paint. Insurers accept elevation-to-natural-break. They will not accept the other three elevations.
What does an insurance-ready painting quote need to include in Tasmania?
A dated inspection with photographs of the damage and of the surrounding sound coating. A written causation statement. Separate line items for make-safe, substrate repair, preparation and coating. Square metres rather than lump sums. A named paint system and coat count. An AS/NZS 2311 reference plus a lead-testing allowance on any pre-1970 home.
How does lead paint affect a storm claim on an older Hobart home?
It raises the claim value and the timeline. A damaged weatherboard in Battery Point or New Town likely carries lead under the topcoat, so disturbing it means AS 4361.2 practice - containment, HEPA extraction, controlled disposal. That is reinstatement, not betterment, and insurers pay it when the swab result is attached to the scope. Budget 280 to 480 dollars to test.
Claim work across Greater Hobart.
Storm damage to your paintwork? Get it scoped properly.
Dated photos, a causation statement, itemised square metres and a named paint system - in the form an assessor needs them.