Neighbor Flooded My Yard Trying To Save Money On Sprinkler Repair, Now My Fence Is Damaged And Plants Are Dead, What Are My Options?

Location: Phoenix, AZ

This whole mess started about 3 weeks ago when my neighbor decided to tackle his own sprinkler system instead of calling a professional. He mentioned he was trying to avoid the $300 quote he got and figured he could save money doing it himself since he "used to do this kind of work" (spoiler alert: he definitely did not).

Long story short, he somehow managed to rupture the main line that runs under our shared fence. I was at work when this happened but my ring camera caught the whole disaster. Water was gushing for what looks like hours before he even noticed. By the time I got home, my entire backyard looked like a swamp.

The flooding killed about $800 worth of desert landscaping that I just had installed last month, plus the constant water undermined the concrete footings for our fence. Now theres a 15 foot section thats literally leaning into my yard and looks like it might fall over completely.

I tried talking to him about paying for the damages but he keeps saying it was an "accident" and his homeowners insurance wont cover it because it was from his own DIY work. He offered to help fix the fence himself (yeah right) but honestly I dont trust him with a screwdriver at this point.

Luckily I have some money set aside for home repairs but I really dont want to dip into that for something that wasnt my fault. My questions are: Can I make him pay for all the damage even though it was technically an accident? Should I file a claim with MY insurance and let them go after him? And what about the fence - we both use it so are we both responsible for fixing it even though he caused the problem?