My neighbor's fence fell into my yard and now I'm stuck with a $2,000 repair bill

A storm last month knocked over the shared fence between our properties, and since it was technically on his land, his insurance won't cover my side. I patched it with plywood for now, but has anyone dealt with the California good neighbor fence law and actually gotten their neighbor to pay up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_emery19d ago

Have you checked if your homeowners insurance covers fence damage from storms even if it's not technically on your land? My policy has a clause for "shared structures" that kicked in when a similar thing happened to me. Could be worth a call before you start fighting with your neighbor.

angela68719d ago

Insurance companies are probably the worst people to get involved in a fence dispute. They'll find a million reasons not to pay out, and if they do pay, your rates will go up anyway. Plus, getting them involved means paperwork and adjusters and waiting forever for a check that barely covers the damage. Sounds like more headache than just splitting the cost with your neighbor or fixing it yourself. The whole "shared structures" clause might just be a way for them to blame both of you for not maintaining it and deny the claim anyway. Better off just talking to the person next door than dealing with customer service reps who don't care.

ivan_mason11d ago

Figured you'd just get the runaround from insurance too, but @the_emery's post about the shared structures clause actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Might be worth a quick call before you start tearing the fence down yourself.