"Andy" wrote in message
news


"ernie mendoza" wrote in message
...

My neighbour's old tree fell over and damaged my fence. It was not
windy and the 30-foot tree's roots had obviously rotted and gone. How
should I proceed with getting my fence repaired?

1. Get my neighbour to fix it?
2. Claim on my buildings insurance. In this case should I get his
insurance details so my insurance company can recover costs from his
company? How do i recover my £100 excess? Will my premium increase as
a result of my claim?


The first thing to do is to talk to your neighbour. Do not ask "Are you
going to pay for the repair?" as this is a closed question and can be
answered with a simple yes or no which is 50/50. Instead, butter them up
first with a comment like "That was was unlucky! At least it was only a
fence", then use an assumptive close by asking something like "When you
get the quote for replacing the fence, could you also get a quote for
[insert different type of fence here like 'closeboard'] as I'm considering
a change and I'll pay the difference". The focus is then shifted from
whether they will pay or not and on to the possibility of an upgrade which
assumes that they'll pay for the replacement of the current fence.


You sound as if you would make a good salesman Andy.
You forgot to add; Make sure you are talking to the "MAN" that being the
person with the Money, the Authority, and the Need. So if the neighbour is a
couple try to talk to them both at once. If its a business make sure you
talk to the boss.

Mike