What Does My Homeowners Insurance Policy Say About Cover Fence Damage?

Fence damage can make your home feel exposed as it’s no longer surrounded by a protective perimeter. As you assess the extent of the wreckage, you can’t help but wonder if you’ll have to pay for fence reparations out of your own pocket or whether you can rely on your homeowner’s insurance. Does your policy cover this sort of thing?

Your homeowner’s insurance policy might cover the cost of fence damage if the fence was vandalized, impacted by a storm, hit by a car, or if a tree fell on it. However, if the fence was destroyed through other means, such as misuse, then you’ll have to pay for the repairs.

If you’re looking for more details about whether your insurance policy will cover fence damage, make sure to keep reading. You’ll also learn about how to file a claim through your insurance to repair your fence.

To be clear, what constitutes insurable fence damage can vary from one insurance provider to another. Thus, it’s a good idea to call your insurance company and confirm that they can cover the damages from the following scenarios:

Some insurance plans provide coverage for unlikely scenarios such as the event that someone drives their car into or through your fence. In most instances, this wouldn’t be intentional, but rather the result of a car accident.

Your homeowner’s insurance might still kick in, but this isn’t your only recourse. Instead of getting your insurance company involved, a fence-related car accident would likely be eligible under the driver’s property liability insurance on their vehicle. 

In a hit-and-run accident though, you wouldn’t be able to use property liability insurance. That’s also the case if the driver isn’t insured.  As an FYI, homeowner’s insurance only goes into effect for car accident damage to your fence if someone else drove into it. Should you crash into your fence, even if it’s accidentally, your insurance won’t cover it.

Waking up and seeing that your fence was vandalized can be quite scary. Perhaps someone spray-painted your fence or hit it with a blunt instrument so now it’s dented and about to fall down.

In such a situation, you want to contact the police before you get in touch with your insurance company, as this act of vandalism should be treated as a crime. Make sure you file a report so the vandals can hopefully be caught. Then, contact your insurance provider to talk about whether fence vandalism is part of your homeowner’s policy. In most instances, it should be.

One of the most common sources of fence damage among homeowners is a particularly rough storm. If lightning strikes your fence, it might become charred if it’s not set ablaze. The fire damage will leave your fence looking very unappealing. Strong winds can pull your fence from the foundation and pouring rains can soften the ground around your fence so it tips right over.

Most homeowner’s insurance policies should cover thunderstorms and tornado fence damage. Do make sure you photograph the damage when the storm ends, says the Insurance Information Institute (III). The more photos you have, the easier it will be for the claims adjustor to do their job.

What if strong winds or wet ground don’t make your fence fall but a tree does instead? If that's the case, very little of its original structure will be left and your fence will require significant repairs. Although insurance doesn’t cover it if you hit your fence with your own car, if it’s your tree that falls, your plan should kick in.

However, there are caveats that you should be aware of. If it’s an older tree that fell because it couldn't maintain its roots, you might not be covered. A situation where a young, healthy tree falls that otherwise would not have should be eligible for homeowner’s insurance to pay for the fence damage.

Another question that many homeowners have is what happens if their neighbor’s tree falls on their fence? The III, in a separate article, states the following: “you are insured no matter who owns the tree.” Your insurance provider could go after your neighbor’s insurance company if they suspect that the neighbors didn’t take care of the tree and that’s why it fell. This won’t change the amount of money you’re eligible to receive, only where it comes from.

You know that homeowner’s insurance will cover your fence damage, so you want to file a claim. Here are the steps to follow.

Some homeowners want to immediately clear the wreckage to see what of their fence is worth saving. Yet if the damage is that bad, you’ll likely find that almost none of the fence is recoverable.

What you should do after a storm or accident involving your fence is not touch anything in the area. Moving or cleaning up the wreckage makes the damage look less severe, which can in turn affect your insurance payout. 

Next, take photos of your fence and the surrounding area. You don’t need a high-tech camera for this, just your smartphone will do. The photographs serve as proof that what you said occurred actually happened. If you have a police report to back you up, that helps too. In storm damage situations though, you won’t be able to rely on a police report.

You’ll call your insurance company shortly, but first, it doesn’t hurt to chat with a few contractors about what it would cost to rebuild your fence. This job may be less expensive than you realized, in which case, there’s no need to chew into your deductible.

Yet, if several contractors tell you that repairing the fence would be higher than your deductible, that’s when you want to get in touch with your insurance provider.

When you call your insurance company, explain the details of what happened and ask what your options are. You’ll probably have to mail or scan over the pertinent documentation of the fence accident such as a police report or photographs.

Most fence damage is covered by homeowner’s insurance provided you didn’t abuse the fence yourself. If someone drives into your fence, a tree falls (yours or your neighbor’s), someone vandalizes the fence, or a storm destroys it, you likely won’t have to cover the costs alone!