Storm destroyed 100LF of fence. Should I make an insurance claim

[Account Closed]

Weather knocked down 100 LF of fence. Is it better to build a new one out of pocket or make an insurance claim?

[Derek Lacy]

Are you sure it was weather and not rot?  That looks like a lot of rot.  But I'm not there.  If it was a rotten fence and a breeze knocked it over...  You will find that the adjuster will inform underwriting about conditions at the property and proceed to a non-renewal.  They may also choose to decline as rot is an exclusion on the policy.  Also, builder defect is an exclusion on the policy, so if it is rot and it's because they didn't use treated wood, that's a defect from the builder.  

All in all I would just replace it and try to find a lower cost contractor to replace the fence, as was stated $15-30 would be more along the lines of costs, but again I'm not there.

I did look up weather history and 41 mph was the highest gust recorded in the past couple months, so I would say from past experience they will lean on rot as the cause of the collapse, not wind.