On 14/07/2011 08:59, ernie mendoza wrote:

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?



I would advise a preliminary chat with your insurance company, who deal
with these things all the time. You *will* need to talk to your
neighbour, of course, but knowing where you stand regarding insurance
cover must help with that. If our tree had damaged our neighbour's
fence, we would have approached them immediately with offers of help or
invoked our insurance cover. Alas, not everyone has an easy
relationship with their neighbours. If you have, don't risk souring it;
you still have to live with them.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay