Typhoon Damaged Your Windows or Roof in the Philippines: Who Repairs, How Home Insurance Claims Work, and Where to Stay Meanwhile

While the typhoon is still blowing: move inward, do not board up windows

The short answer: when a window breaks or the roof starts banging, everyone moves immediately to an interior room with no exterior window or to the stairwell, closes the door, and waits for the wind to stop. Broken glass and wind-driven debris travel at extreme speed, and people standing at a window trying to block it are among the most common typhoon casualties.

Concretely:

1. Leave any room with an exterior window. Bathrooms, corridors, stairwells and interior storerooms are usually safest. In a detached house, if the ground floor is breached but the upper floor is intact, go up; if the roof is the problem, go down to an interior ground-floor room.
2. Close doors. Shutting the door of the room with the broken window noticeably reduces wind pressure inside the house and protects the remaining windows from being blown out in sequence.
3. Cut the power. Rain driven through a broken window reaches sockets and appliances, with the same electrocution risk as flooding. Switch off the main breaker and use torches and phones for light — candles are a poor idea in high wind.
4. Do not go outside. Flying debris, downed power lines and snapped branches are each individually lethal. Even if the wind seems to ease, wait for the official all-clear; the calm of the eye is the moment people most often misjudge.

If the roof has lifted as a whole or walls have cracked, the house is no longer safe — contact the barangay or building management to be moved to an evacuation centre. Philippine cities routinely open schools and gymnasiums as shelters during typhoons. Do not wait for a collapse.

The only documentation possible at this stage is phone photos and video; if you have signal, send a clip of the interior to family or the landlord, and if not, keep it for later.

The first day after: document, seal temporarily, then notify the landlord — in that order

Once the wind stops, the first task is photographs and video, the second is temporary sealing to stop further water getting in, and only the third is notifying the landlord — seal before you notify, rather than letting rain pour in while waiting for a reply.

Documentation. Photograph every point of damage: broken windows, lifted roofing, collapsed walls, flooded rooms, soaked furniture. Wide shots for context, close-ups for detail, with a reference object (a door frame, a person) where possible, and timestamps on. If neighbouring homes were hit too, photograph the street — it establishes an area-wide event rather than something unique to your property, which both insurers and landlords sometimes question.

Temporary sealing. Board broken windows with plywood, cardboard and tape, or at minimum heavy plastic sheeting; place buckets under roof leaks and, if the roof is reachable without climbing, weight a tarpaulin over the gap. These are stopgaps to prevent the next rain from widening the loss. Do not climb onto the roof yourself — post-typhoon roof structures can be loose, and a fall is far worse than a leak.

Notify the landlord in writing: where the damage is, the photos, what temporary measures you have taken, what repair you think is needed, and when you expect a response. Follow any phone call with a message. This record is the starting point of any later dispute over who should repair and whether they did.

Check a few easily missed items: whether the water heater or the air-conditioner's outdoor unit has been dislodged or wetted, whether the LPG cylinder has shifted, whether any cabling is exposed, whether drains are blocked with leaves and debris. Do not touch exposed wiring; report it to the utility.

If the damage brought water inside, the subsequent cleanup, de-energising and mould control follow the flood procedure in what to do after your home floods; if wiring or gas caused a fire during the storm, see what to do when your home catches fire.

Tenant versus landlord: structure is the landlord's, belongings are yours, the middle ground follows the lease

The principle is clear: roof, windows, walls and fixed wiring — the structure and fixed installations — are the landlord's to repair; your furniture, appliances and clothing are yours; things you installed but that are not in the lease (an awning, a plant rack) are usually yours too. Disputes live in the middle band.

The landlord's side. A typhoon is force majeure, so the landlord does not compensate your belongings, but does owe you a home restored to a habitable state. Broken windows, a leaking roof and a collapsed wall are the landlord's repairs, and they must be done within a reasonable time. There is no statutory number of days for "reasonable", but if the landlord delays and you suffer further loss as a result — rain continuing to ruin furniture, say — that additional loss can be claimed against them. This is why the written notice in the previous section matters: it fixes the date from which the landlord knew.

The tenant's side. Your own property is your loss unless you can show it resulted from the landlord's delay. If the lease contains a clause making the tenant responsible for routine maintenance, typhoon damage does not fall within routine maintenance — do not be persuaded by that clause into paying for the roof.

The middle band. Outdoor air-conditioner units, water heaters, built-in appliances: whoever bought them owns the repair, and anything the lease lists as included belongs to the landlord. Items you added yourself, even for typhoon protection, are generally yours. The best way through this band is to read the lease, negotiate what it does not cover, and put the agreement in writing.

While the landlord repairs, cooperate on access times and photograph before and after the work; photograph the completed repair as well. If the landlord asks you to pay up front and offset against rent, confirm the offset method and a ceiling amount in writing first, never verbally. The general logic of repair responsibility in a rental is in reporting repairs and splitting responsibility in a Philippine rental.

If the home is unliveable in the short term and the landlord cannot or will not repair, a tenant can seek rent relief for that period or early termination; the rules and mechanics are in how early termination of a Philippine residential lease works.

Does home insurance pay for typhoons: fire policies exclude it by default, a rider is required, and here is what a claim needs

The single most important sentence: the fire insurance most Philippine homes carry does not cover typhoon, flood or earthquake on its own; cover exists only if an "Acts of Nature" or similarly named rider was added to the policy. Many people buy insurance, assume they are protected, and discover after a typhoon that the base policy excludes exactly this.

Check the policy for the rider first. If it is there, the claim runs roughly as follows:

1. Notify promptly. Insurers generally require notice within a set period after the loss; the policy states it. Phone first, then email with the policy number, date of loss and a summary.
2. Assemble documents. The policy, ID, an itemised loss list (item, quantity, purchase date, estimated value), photos and video, the disaster certificate (next section), and repair quotes (usually from two or more contractors).
3. Cooperate with the inspection. The insurer may send an adjuster. Do not undertake major cleanup or repair before the inspection; temporary sealing is fine, but keep photographs of the damage as it was.
4. Wait for assessment and payment. Claim volumes spike after a typhoon and timelines stretch; follow up patiently and keep every exchange in writing.

Claims commonly reduced or declined for: underinsurance applied proportionally (the rebuild cost exceeds the sum insured); damage attributed to long-term neglect rather than the storm (a roof that was already rusted through); a deductible on the rider; or late notification. These points are covered in detail in what home insurance in the Philippines covers, how to claim, and when claims are refused.

Tenants, note: the landlord's policy pays the landlord; not a peso reaches you. To cover your own furniture and appliances you need a contents policy in your own name, and you must check that it, too, carries the natural-disaster rider. With no insurance, this route is closed and the discussion returns to the landlord in the previous section.

Where to stay: evacuation centres, short-term rentals, friends — and how to get the disaster certificate

If the home is unliveable in the short term, three options in order of urgency: an evacuation centre or a friend's home for the first night, a serviced apartment or hotel negotiated by the week within days, and then a decision on whether to wait for repairs or move.

Evacuation centres. During and after a typhoon, cities open schools, gymnasiums and barangay halls as shelters — basic but safe, and suitable for the first night. Contact the barangay beforehand to confirm the location and whether space remains. Foreign nationals are accommodated too; bring ID.

Short-term rentals. After a typhoon, short-term supply tightens and prices rise; booking a day or two ahead is cheaper than searching on the night. Weekly or monthly rates are usually better than daily. Some condominium managements will arrange a vacant unit for affected residents — it costs nothing to ask.

The disaster certificate. As with flooding, a typhoon damage certificate is issued by the barangay or the city's disaster risk reduction and management office, confirming that a typhoon on a given date damaged your address. Beyond insurance, it is used for: explaining absence to an employer, informing a child's school, applying for post-disaster government or community assistance, and as a neutral basis when negotiating rent relief with the landlord. Bring ID, proof of address (lease or a utility bill) and damage photographs to the barangay.

If documents were destroyed or lost in the storm — a passport or ACR I-Card soaked or blown away — the replacement process is in replacing a Chinese passport in the Philippines, and the disaster certificate helps explain the loss when you apply.

Schools usually suspend classes for some days after a typhoon; when they resume and how missed days are made up is covered in reading Philippine class suspension notices. If you will be busy dealing with the house, arrange childcare in advance.

Why the same typhoon ruins one home and spares the next: what to do before the next one

Seventy percent of typhoon loss is decided before the typhoon arrives: whether windows were reinforced, whether the roof was checked, where valuables were kept, whether people evacuated early. This section is for next time.

In rough order of value for effort:

• Act on the warning. Once the weather bureau raises a typhoon signal, decide by signal level whether to reinforce or evacuate, rather than judging once the wind arrives. How to read the signals is in the PAGASA section of the Philippines rainy season and flooding guide.
• Reinforce windows. Apply shatter-resistant film to large panes, or tape a star pattern before the storm (this limits flying shards but will not stop a break); fit removable shutters where possible. Bring in every pot, drying rack and loose object from balconies — these are what most often smash your own or a neighbour's window.
• Check the roof. Before each typhoon season, have the landlord or a tradesperson inspect it: rusted-through sheets, loose fasteners, blocked gutters. Tenants who spot a problem should tell the landlord in writing; that record is extremely valuable when responsibility is argued afterwards.
• Valuables up and bagged. Documents, electronics and cash on an upper floor or high shelf; paper documents in sealed bags; important documents scanned to cloud storage.
• Power, water, medicine. Several days without electricity after a typhoon is normal; see preparing backup power for typhoon season.
• Take insurance seriously. If you own, or you rent and keep valuable items at home, add the natural-disaster rider before the season; the premium is a fraction of a single loss.

A home battered by every typhoon, like one that floods every year, is a home worth leaving. If you are alone in the Philippines and unsure where to start, send photos and your situation to Yixing's settling-in advisors and we will help sequence documentation, the landlord conversation, insurance and temporary housing. Yixing is a Chinese-speaking consultancy in Makati (SEC registration CS202009551; Bureau of Immigration accreditation CA-202624381-1, valid to 30 June 2027; DOLE and PRA accredited), not affiliated with any government agency, and we do not promise any payout. This article is not legal advice; consult a licensed lawyer for liability and claims in your own case.