Storm Took Down Your Fence? Documenting the Damage for a Claim

When Hurricane Beryl came through on July 8, 2024, the National Weather Service’s preliminary numbers showed a 69 mph gust at Conroe’s airport weather station and 59 mph at Huntsville. Gusts like that load a solid six-foot fence like a sail, and on wooded lots they also bring down pine limbs and whole trees on top of it. Afterward, a lot of homeowners asked us the same two things: will insurance pay for the fence, and what do they need to do to file?

This guide covers what we tell people. Treat it as general information rather than insurance or legal advice. The wording of your own policy, and the adjuster reading it, decide the claim, and the Texas Department of Insurance help line (800-252-3439) can answer questions about how claims work.

First, make it safe. Then take pictures.

Stay clear of downed power lines and anything touching them, and call the utility. Once the yard is safe, document the damage before you move anything.

• Wide shots of each damaged run from both ends, so the adjuster sees the full length
• Close-ups of snapped posts, pulled footings, broken rails, and split pickets
• Any tree or limb on the fence, plus the spot where it broke off
• The undamaged parts too, which show the fence’s condition before the storm
• The date, and a rough measurement of how much fence is down

If you have older photos of the fence from a listing, a stain job, or a family picture in the backyard, set them aside. The fence’s condition before the storm comes up in nearly every fence claim.

What a Texas homeowners policy usually says

According to the Texas Department of Insurance, a typical home policy sets “other structures” coverage, which includes fences, at 10% of what the house is insured for. A house insured for $300,000 would carry about $30,000 for other structures. TDI says a wind-damaged fence is probably covered when the policy includes wind. Expect payment at actual cash value (what the fence was worth after depreciation), minus your deductible.

Two things follow. An older fence may be worth much less on paper than a new one costs. And a fence-only loss can land under your deductible, which is why we suggest getting a repair estimate before deciding whether to file at all.

For homes in Montgomery, Walker, Liberty, Polk, and San Jacinto counties, wind coverage comes through the regular homeowners policy. Those counties are outside the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s coastal territory.

Wind and water are different claims

TDI puts it plainly: home policies don’t cover floods, and flood damage needs a separate flood policy. That matters on the low, river-bottom lots by the San Jacinto’s West Fork, including parts of River Plantation, and below Lake Conroe when SJRA has to raise releases from the dam after heavy rain, as it did during Harvey in 2017 and again in May 2024.

A fence flattened by wind and one pushed over by moving water can look alike a week later. Photos of the debris line, the high-water mark, and the direction the panels fell help the adjuster sort out what happened.

Trees, limbs, and whose policy responds

On wooded lots, many storm calls are really tree calls. Which policy pays when a neighbor’s tree lands on your fence depends on the policies and the circumstances. That is a question for the insurers, not for us. What we can do is note on the estimate which sections the tree or limb damaged, so the damage is clearly tied to it.

The tree has to come off the fence before we can rebuild. A tree service handles the tree, and we handle the fence once the line is clear.

What belongs in the repair estimate

Adjusters want an itemized estimate, not a single total. Ours lists:

• Linear feet of damaged fence, section by section
• Posts to be replaced, and whether they are wood or steel
• Pickets, rails, rot boards, and gate hardware
• Removing and hauling away the broken fence
• Any clearing needed to reach the line

We also note whether each section can be repaired to match or has to be rebuilt, and we photograph what we found.

Repair the section, or replace the run?

If the storm took out a few panels on a fence that is otherwise sound, a section repair is usually the right call. If the remaining posts were already soft at the base or leaning, the storm may have only finished what age started, and patching one section beside a failing run rarely lasts. We price both so you can see the difference before you decide.

When to call us

Once the yard is safe and photographed, book a free estimate online or text pictures of the damage to (713) 331-9419. We walk the whole line, write an itemized estimate you can hand to your adjuster, and schedule the work when you are ready. To get ahead of the next storm, see our hurricane season prep checklist, and our repair page for everything else we fix.