I can’t tell you how many times over my career I have answered questions about trees!
- “My neighbor’s tree is dead and it blew over on my fence and caused damage. Who pays for this?”
- “I’ve got this tree close to my house and it doesn’t look so good … It could be dead. If wind from a storm blows it on my house, insurance cover’s it right?
- “We had this big wind storm with straight line winds that came through yesterday afternoon. This big tree in my yard was uprooted by the wind and now it has to be removed….. Does insurance pay for it?
- “My 6 year old climbed up a tree in our back yard. He fell and broke his arm! Is that covered under my homeowners insurance?”
I could go on and on and on! Trees – both alive and dead cause problems for our insured homeowners. And guess what, I’ve got my own set of TREE problems. I’ve known for quite sometime this absolutely awesome, high reaching to the sky sycamore tree that gives great character to our wooden deck on the back of our house had been dropping limbs occasionally. They weren’t terribly big. I would just pull them to the adjoining woods and let them rot back into the earth. There have been several other trees that have lived their long life in our yard and I knew it was time to have them removed. Several were so big, I knew I couldn’t do it myself. I knew I needed to hire a professional with the right team and right equipment to take care of this for me. After interviewing several companies, I hired a company who have arborists that do the work. This young man comes from a family that has been in the tree business longer than I am old and he now has his own company. So I felt comfortable with his knowledge and their expertise on the subject of ‘all things trees!’
When Zack came over last week, we walked around my property. He and I spotlighted problems and there were several including a dead tree in the middle of our deck that basically was just existing with very little growth. The price to take care of all of these trees was priced fairly for what had to be done: cut down, hauled off, stump removal and clean-up. Then I asked that he look at this sycamore on the front of my patio that had been visible to everyone that has visited our home for more than 30 years. He looked up … and his comment was: “Oh my gosh, do you see that seam!?” Well sure I had seen it but it had not alarmed me like it did him. He immediately went into almost a fearful tirade! “Mr. White, one big wind storm and it’s possible that the entire top of that tree crashes into the roof of your home. You have GOT to get that down!” At that point, all I saw were dollar signs – in every direction! I knew he was right because I had seen it myself: a rotten tree at the top – taking in water and the splitting seam had moved more than halfway down the tree. A split of that tree was inevitable.
Surely this couldn’t be me! I have advised client after client with this advice for 37+ years: “Just know that if you have a rotten tree on your property and if it does damage to your home, the insurance company WILL NOT COVER THAT LOSS because you, as homeowner, did not take care of that dead tree. It is YOUR responsibility to protect your home from that possibility. The insurance policy states that coverage for that loss is specifically excluded!” I had to listen to my own message and do the right thing. Oh but it’s financially painful – a whopping $2500 to remove it! Again, that price is reasonable for this type of work. It will take at least a 60 foot bucket truck and probably 4 laborers to hoist it down – piece by piece .. It’s an all day job!
So what were my alternatives? I had two:
- Leave it as it is and stress during every big storm that the tree would fall onto the house that could cause $10’s of thousands to repair … OR
- Hire these professionals to get up there and dismantle the sycamore piece by piece!
There was no easy answer but there was a RIGHT answer. Let them take it down! My 32+ year sycamore will be gone! I couldn’t believe it! Zack and crew are wasting no time in getting this tree down this week because as he put it: “I’ve now advised you this has to come down and if I don’t get it down soon before something happens to your house, then I’m on the hook for some of this and I don’t want that to happen!” That prompted me again to confirm his insurance coverage. I asked for the proof of coverage that he had both in liability and worker’s compensation insurance in order to be insured while he does the work. I wouldn’t have hired him without it! That way, the obligation and liability is on him if he has an accident or some other problem that causes me damage from his work. I’ve got that bad tree with the expense that goes with it. I don’t need medical bills or property damage caused by his work.
So I ask – How are your trees!? Since the weather is nicer, it might be a real good investment of your time to walk around your yard so you can pay close attention to the trees that can touch or fall over on your home or condo. Will you be OK in the event of a windstorm? Will you be calling me because a dead tree hits your home and you want the insurance company to step up only to hear us say: “So sorry – there is no coverage – you had a dead tree!” I’m sure glad that I looked up at my trees. If I hadn’t, I would be writing a blog entitled ‘Home damage – Dead tree hits MY house and I’ve got a mess over here! Will any insurance company help me – PLEASE!!!!????” Of course no insurance company would!
Needless to say, we have personal experience with so many insurance issues that we can -first hand- advise our customers so they can learn from our experience or mistakes. Let us help you! Reach us by EMAIL at info@BentonWhite.com or call any of our staff at 615.377.1212. We’re here to earn your business and keep you safe from dead trees!
