Personal Liability Insurance: What Happens When Someone Gets Hurt on Your Property

Question:  I recently built a new fence for $20,000. Is it covered by my home insurance, or do I need to add it separately?

Short Answer:  Your new fence is automatically covered under  Coverage B – Other Structures  on your HO3 home insurance policy — but only up to a point. You’ll want to check your policy limits to make sure you’re fully protected. Let’s walk through exactly what that means.

Coverage B  protects detached structures on your property that are  not physically connected  to your primary home.

These include:

• Fences
• Detached garages
• Sheds
• Pools
• Driveway lighting
• Guest houses
• Gazebos

Your fence falls under this category — so  yes, it’s technically already included in your policy .

Most HO3 policies allocate  10% of your Dwelling Coverage (Coverage A)  to Coverage B.

So, if your main home is insured for  $800,000 , then you automatically get:

That means your $20,000 fence is  well within  the included limits. However…

Here’s the key issue:
If you’ve made  multiple upgrades  to your property — say, a $30,000 detached garage and a $40,000 pool — that 10% limit may not be enough.

In that case, it’s time to talk to your insurance agent about increasing that limit. Adding a  higher limit for other structures  is a simple endorsement and usually doesn’t drastically change your premium — but it gives you peace of mind.

Absolutely — here’s a new section you can add directly into the article, formatted to match the current structure and optimized for both readability and keyword usage:

If your detached structures — like a fence, pool, or shed — are worth more than 10% of your home’s dwelling coverage, you’ll want to raise your  Coverage B limit . But how much does that actually cost?

In Massachusetts, increasing Coverage B is done through an  endorsement  to your existing HO3 policy. The cost typically depends on:

• How much additional coverage you need
• Your insurance carrier
• Your home’s location and risk factors

• Adding $10,000–$20,000  in extra Coverage B:  ~$10–$50/year
• Adding $50,000+  in Coverage B:  ~$50–$100/year

These numbers are just estimates and can vary based on your specific insurance company’s rates.

The good news?  Increasing your Coverage B limit is usually very affordable  — especially when you compare it to the cost of rebuilding a structure like a fence or detached garage out of pocket.

To find out exactly what it would cost for your policy, just reach out to your insurance broker. Most carriers in Massachusetts can update your coverage quickly — often in just a few minutes.

Let’s say a storm knocks down your new fence — and the repair estimate is $20,000.

If your other structures (like a shed, pool house, or lighting) already eat up $70,000 of your $80,000 Coverage B, you might  only have $10,000 left  to put toward your fence.

That means you’re left footing the rest of the bill.

You don’t need to “add” your fence to your policy, because it’s already covered under Coverage B.
BUT  — you do need to  make sure your total Coverage B limit is enough  to protect everything you’ve built on your property.

Have a quick conversation with your insurance agent. It takes five minutes to confirm whether your limits are still appropriate — and it could save you thousands later.

At the end of the day, you’ve invested real money into making your property look and feel the way you want. Whether it’s a $20,000 fence or a new garage, you deserve to know it’s protected.

Now that you understand how your HO3 policy works — and how Coverage B applies to detached structures — it’s time to  review your policy limits  and ask:  “If something happened tomorrow, would I be covered?”

If you’re unsure, we’re here to help you walk through your policy step by step and find the coverage that’s right for your home.