Address mix-up left Oshawa woman without roof as storm approached GTA

Roof of Oshawa family home removed by mistake The house that was supposed to have their roof removed was three doors down from the family's home.

A few days before a massive wind storm struck the Greater Toronto Area, a woman came home to find that workers had mistakenly removed the roof from her home after getting their addresses mixed up.

Oshawa resident Jennifer Campbell was at work on Tuesday when her son called her to ask why she never told him there was work being done on the house. He said the roof was bare.

“During our phone conversation, I heard someone else coming up to him and speaking with him, saying they did the house, they had the wrong house number, but they will give us a good deal to replace the roof,” Campbell told CTV News Toronto. “My heart sank. They were calling for rain, wind and I had a bare roof right down to the plywood.”

The house that was supposed to have the work done was three down from Campbell’s home. Campbell immediately left work. When she arrived, she said she found her home in a state of disrepair.

Campbell says she called the police and her insurance agency right away. She said that while the police were there, the roofing company cleaned up the side of the house, but still left shingles, nails, and a tarp on a lower tier of the roof and in the backyard.

According to Campbell, a representative of the roofing company spoke to her and said they would replace her roof for a good cost.

“We were stunned,” she said. “I feel like it was their mistake. They weren’t invited here. They weren’t asked here.”

With a storm approaching and her insurance company bogged down with claims, Campbell took matters into her own hands. She contacted another roofing company to do some emergency repairs until her roof can be fully replaced.

She may be able to file an insurance claim, but she has to pay the $1,000 deductible. Campbell thinks the company that removed her roof should absorb those costs.

“We feel this is very unfair. I get what the insurance company has to do, but I didn’t ask for this,” she said. “It’s a ton of red tape and a huge hassle for my husband and I."

After being contacted by CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for the roofing company said it is willing to take responsibility for the error.

“We will do her roof for free,” the company said in a statement. “If she wants us to do it, we can schedule it.”

The company also confirmed that they would be paying Campbell’s $1,000 deductible if she wants to use another roofer.

The roof was completed Monday by another roofing company.

-With files from CTV News Toronto's Pat Foran