Hi All, I’m looking for advice as this is the first time I’ve navigated a claim like this.
A car hit our fence after running a stop sign at our intersection. The police report found the driver at fault. Rather than file a claim through my home insurance and risk my premium going up, I opted to obtain the police report and contact the at fault driver’s insurance directly. They already had a claim open as the at fault driver hit another car before hitting our fence. I have photos of the damage and a doorbell video of the incident, which I provided.
They sent an appraiser out and a few weeks later they provided a cash offer of ~$900. I knew this was low so I asked the fence company to quote for a full replacement of the damaged sections. That quote came in at $4,000.
When I provided that quote to the insurance company they responded saying they will only cover cash value not replacement cost. I have no idea if that is truly the limit of their liability or not. I’m still waiting to hear back on their “improved offer”, but I doubt it will come close to the actual cost to fix the damage.
Any guidance on how to proceed is appreciated. Do I have any other recourse or is there a way I can add pressure on them to meet the actual repair costs? Thanks in advance.
A car destroyed our fence and their insurance is refusing to cover replacement cost
byu/joeshmoe9898 inInsurance
Posted by joeshmoe9898
5 Comments
On a third party liability claim you are only owed actual cash value for the damages. There is no pressure to put on them as the courts have decided claimants are only entitled to the ACV.
You might not even have replacement cost coverage on a fence through your homeowners insurance unless you have an endorsement.
Did the at-fault driver take down the entire fence that encloses the yard, or just a section? A complete replacement sounds excessive if only sections of the fence are damaged.
“a full replacement of the damaged sections” 🙃
3rd party liability claims like yours that persons insurance company does NOT owe for a new fence. Just like if you had a 2010 F150 are they suppose to pay you for a 2025 F150? Nope.
Few questions to help understand is that value is appropriate.
Type of fence: Wood, Vinyl, Metal
Age of Fence: 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
Linear Feet Damaged:20 FT, 40 FT?
State of Accident:
Example:
Wood fences have life expectancy of about 15-20 years. So if wood fence was installed 10 years ago about 50% of their expected life has been used so best case scenario is you’d get a 50% payout.
>Do I have any other recourse or is there a way I can add pressure on them to meet the actual repair costs?
Your recourse is to take the driver of the car to court, check if small claims court in your area allows $4k claims
You might need more than one repair quote to bolster your case, $4000 sounds excessive unless this is a high-end or custom fence