I would call my home owners insurance and have them handle it. It is going to be hard to prove who did it without witnesses.

I wouldn't claim it on my homeowner's especially if you think your neighbor will accept the responsibility and pay for the repairs. Call Lowe's and get an estimate so that you have a ballpark figure. If you go through your Homeowner's you'll have to pay the deductible and you'll have a claim on record. Honestly insurance isn't for minor claims, it's for a significant loss.

DON'T call your homeowner's insurance. For a smallish claim it is just not worth it.

I am going to give you a link about the CLUE report or comprehensive loss underwriting exchange.

Here is some info from the link:

"Claims you file - sometimes even inquiries about your coverage that do not result in a claim - can appear in a little-known database called CLUE or its smaller competitor A-PLUS. And your insurance "score," which is largely based on your credit rating, can determine how much you pay for homeowner's or automobile insurance."

CLUE effected our ability to obtain insurance on our new home when we moved. If we had known about it, we would have never filed our smallish claim. It would have been cheaper to pay the claim than to pay our new, much higher premiums.

Here is a link that might be useful: CLUE

Deee is right. When we inquired about getting insurance for a new vacation home that we were going to purchase I was surprised when the insurance agent asked us about a claim that showed up in her database. I told her that we had never filed a claim on either our Homeowner's or car insurance. It turns out this wasn't even a claim that we had filed on our policy. A contractor working on our home caused water damage in our basement and he filed a claim against his policy to pay for the damage. The payment was under $1500. But even that showed up under our name. The agent verified that we hadn't filed the claim and we did get the insurance.

Just wanted to say don't be too sure who hit the fence...
And please bear that in mind when you talk to him.

I know, it looks obvious. But guys who drive semi's are really, really good drivers. It might have been a visitor of his who didn't know exactly when and how far to turn.

Our across-the street neighbor's mailbox was knocked down a few months ago, and I'm sure they thought we did it. After all, their mailbox is directly across the very narrow street from our driveway. Then when Hubby offered to re-set it (for free - he had to re-set ours after a water-main break and had extra concrete), I'm SURE they were convinced that the culprit had been found and just didn't want to admit it. So Hubby and Sonny re-set their mailbox (beautifully, I might add) and they politely say 'Thanks' -- end of story. (We're chuckling, and wondering if the real culprit will ever turn up.)

And the following week, he does. It's our neighbor's father-in-law, who sheepishly admitted hitting the mailbox (didn't know at the time, he says) on the way out the other night... NOW of course, the neighbor is very embarassed at their 'merely polite' thanks and shows up with a bottle of seriously good wine, which we gratefully accepted.

*Shee hanging head*
I feel like a donkey to have to admit this and would've lost a bunch of money. It wasn't the neighbor. DH went over to talk to him today and he's been gone since Sunday. DH did use the nice approach. People definitely don't respond well to sassy finger pointing.

It wasn't the weather conditions. We don't live up a busy road so I have a hard time imaging someone pulled in his driveway, went through the grass all the way to the fence but then again I thought he did it. The only other thing could've been a deer or bear. There's a field and trees across the road from him so maybe a car coming scared an animal and they headed full force that direction? A giant raccoon, haha! Hey, I might as well laugh. I have no idea. The thing is snapped royally and there's marks on the one post and dirt/grass towards the top of the broke panel.

I don't believe he's lying and I'm sure he has logs to record his time.

I suggested to DH to file a police report. He doesn't want to for some reason. So yeah...

Sweeby is right, semi drivers are super good drivers (hubby used to drive one) :c)

I hate to say it Shee, but things like this are sort of par for the course. We live on a curve and our box gets hit all the time. It aggravating because people come down the road too quick and just plow into it like it's a bowling pin or something, especially on snowy days. We've replaced the darn thing at least a 1/2 dz times and have changed our address to a PO Box that's closer to our house than our own post office which is about 10 miles from us. I don't know why people feel it's ok, they damage someones property and then just drive off as if they aren't responsible. It's so rude (and expensive)

Did you look to see the direction the busted fence came from? Was it from his side of the property?

Anyhoo, don't contact your homeowners insurance, you'll find yourself either dropped or have your policy raised.

I wouldn't make a police report either. What could the police do anyway?

This is one of those things where you have to bite the bullet and fix it yourself. Oh the joys of being a homeowner! lol

Lukkii - That doesn't sound like any fun with the mail box. I can't imagine damaging someone's property and not speaking up. Someone hit my car some time (scratched along the side) and didn't bother to say a word.

The fence is messed up from his property side.

DH did talk to our insurance guy but if we go through them of course the premium will go up.

The police report was suggested to me... what good it would do I have no idea. It sounded good at the time. DH never called.

We called a fence company (there's literally only two) and they didn't even know what a composite fence was...

I know we'll have to fix it. We don't expect our neighbor to if he didn't do it. We won't be going through the insurance company but it's going to have to sit and look goofy for awhile. We have too much other stuff going on.

Shee, it's a royal PIA and I pity the fool I do end up catching Ha! My point is I can really empathize with your frustration and to just let you know, you're not alone. :c)

My Dad looked at the fence today and he's convinced it's an expand and contract issue because of how it looks/where it's damaged.

It's still fun to imagine a giant raccoon.

Has it been real humid in your area? Did you guys install the fence or did you hire someone to do it? If you hired someone, seems like they should have to fix it, no?

It's been hot and humid here. We went right passed Spring. :(

DH's friend who's familiar with fences and DH installed it but followed the manufacturers instructions. Warranties don't seem to cover anything but we're going to check it out.