House leaking balcony and resultant damage insurance claim

Hi there

New member here with a problem on my house balcony/underneath roofing

A piece of outdoor roof sheeting just came off under my balcony outside and upon taking a look up top and inside there appears to be alot of water damage, the smaller metal channels bolted to the wooden roof beams which the roof sheets have been glued too are mostly completed rusted and corroded and coming apart (its actually surprising the sheet didnt come off sooner and more sheets havent come off)
Even more worrying is the big wooden beams that the tiles of the balcony are laid onto look like they are rotting in places and so looks like its going to be a big expensive job to repair.

Im wanting to put an insurance claim for this and am curious what people think my chances of success will be?

I had a look at my home and contents policy and there's an exclusion under leaks for gradual slow leaks which this obviously is unless "I could not know or could not have reasonably been expected to know about the leak"
The roof underneath of the balcony is completely sealed and so I had no idea what was going on above, there's no signs of water damage to these roof sheets on the visible side, theres been no water leaks Ive ever seen and Ive only become aware now because roof sheet came off. Also the tiles up top look fine I cant see any obvious issues to them.

Theres another specific exclusion clause for "Rust Corrosion Rot and Mould"

I spoke with an insurance broker contact I have and he said whilst it will be difficult the claim will most likely succeed for all the resultant damage of the leak as I did not know and could not have reasonably known and that the rust and rot are resultant damage of this leak.
He did say theres a slight chance they will refuse the claim but most likely if I fight it I will win however fixing the cause of the leak being the tiles above and the water proofing will be at my cost.

Just curious if anyone has had any experience with this or could share some feedback?

Thanks

 

Have you read your policy? Insurance limits claims to certain events. Lightning, hail, cyclone tree impact etc. Wear tear and deterioration arent insured.

If your policy allows it consequntial loss from water entry may be covered. Or not. If the water entry occurs from deterioration they will decline it

 

Sounds like a lack of maintenance or just deterioration during to age.

Hard to see insurance covering it - insurance is for defined, unexpected events (clearly stated in your policy document), not general expected maintenance.