Had three fence panels blow down in the wind last Sunday. Nothing dramatic, just the usual six foot larchlap panels that were probably past their best anyway. I rang my insurer on Monday to ask about claiming and was told my excess for storm damage is £250, which is fair enough, but the chap on the phone then cheerfully informed me that any claim would likely push my premium up at renewal by “a minimum of £50 to £75 per year for three to five years”. So I am looking at roughly £200 in net benefit from claiming, versus potentially £375 in extra premiums over the next five years. Marvellous.
I have already got a quote from a local fencer for £420 to supply and fit three new panels and re-concrete one post that snapped at the base. Not cheap but not outrageous either. Has anyone else just stopped bothering with fence claims entirely? I am starting to think home insurance is really only worth having for the catastrophic stuff, fire or subsidence, and everything else you just absorb. The excess creep over the last few years has been remarkable, mine has gone from £100 to £250 without me changing anything.
PS: the allotment shed survived, which is frankly the main thing 
Stopped claiming for anything under a grand years ago. Not worth the hassle or the premium hit.
Some policies have started excluding fences and gates from storm cover altogether, so check the small print at your next renewal. I treat fences as a maintenance cost now, same as repainting window frames or clearing gutters. If you budget £100 to £150 a year for panel replacement you will come out ahead over time compared to claiming. The only fence claim I ever made was years ago when a tree came down and took out an entire run plus part of the neighbour’s shed, and even that was a fight.
Quick update on this for anyone interested. Took the consensus advice and did not bother claiming. Went to Wickes on Saturday morning, bought three standard 6x6 larchlap panels at £32 each plus a bag of postcrete and some galvanised clips. Total damage about £115 including a new gravel board for the worst one. Took me most of Saturday afternoon with my neighbour holding things level while I bolted them in, but they are up and solid. The old posts were actually fine once I scraped the moss off, so that saved a job. Compare that with a £350 excess, a potential premium increase, and probably four weeks of chasing an assessor to come and look at three bits of fence. Not worth it by any measure. One of the remaining panels is looking a bit tired so I might do a rolling replacement, one or two a year, rather than waiting for the next storm to decide for me