Home Insurance and Fallen Trees

​If you’ve ever dealt with home insurance, then you know how frustrating the claims and indemnity process can be. And when there’s the pressure of a tree sitting on your house, that process becomes even more stressful. To help make things less overwhelming, here are a few tips and important points to keep in mind. 

​Don’t Delay – Call Today!

​If a tree or a branch falls on your house, you’ll need to make some calls. The most important call if anyone is injured is always 911 – your first priority is making sure the people in your home are taken care of. But your second call should be to your insurance. This is both to notify them of the damage as quickly as possible, and also to check for any requirements you’ll need to fulfil to ensure the damage is covered. Depending on the situation, the adjuster may want ‘before’ pictures of the area, or they may even need to come out and take a look at it themselves. 

​Of course, in more severe and urgent situations, your insurance will understand the need to get the problem taken care of immediately, and may waive or alter their requirements to ensure no further damage is caused. 

​Once you’ve notified your insurance, then it’s time to call a Certified Arborist. Most tree service companies prioritize emergencies, so unless a large storm causes a high volume of emergency work all at once, they should be able to fit you in pretty quickly. 

​Common Misconceptions

​There are a lot of assumptions out there about what your insurance will cover, or what they might require in order to cover something. Here are a few misconceptions we’d like to debunk:

1. You need your insurance’s permission to remove a tree from your house .

​In an emergency situation, it’s much more important to get the dangerous tree off your house than it is to wait for your insurance to send an agent to your house to look things over. That said, we always recommend contacting your insurance as soon as possible to at the very least notify them of the situation. 

2. Insurance only covers removing the part of the tree touching the house.

It’s true that insurances often want to minimize costs when funding the removal of a fallen tree, so there’s this idea that they’ll only pay for taking care of what’s actively causing damage to the home. But insurances usually understand that getting debris off a structure can be incredibly complicated, and sometimes the easiest and safest way to remove a tree involves removing the whole thing. That’s why it’s important to get a Certified Arborist involved, to assess the situation and determine the best course of action. If your insurance is skeptical or reluctant to cover the full removal, most arborists should be willing to write a letter to or even speak directly with your insurance agent to explain the situation. 

3. ​Insurance only covers damage to your home.

​While it’s called “home insurance,” never assume your policy only covers your physical house. Many policies extend coverage to things like mailboxes and address posts, or even sprinkler systems and landscape lighting. Depending on the package you chose, your shed or fence might be covered too! Even if you read through your policy and don’t think something is covered, it’s worth the call to your insurance to double-check. 

4. ​Stump grinding is never covered by insurance.

​Stump grinding is generally considered an aesthetic preference as opposed to a necessity, which is why most people assume it’s not covered by their insurance. But trees don’t always break at some point up the trunk. Sometimes, the root system fails, and the entire root ball lifts up out of the ground. This tangled mess of roots can lift up and break through a nearby fence, your patio, or even your underground utilities. Assuming the damage is to a covered structure, the removal of the root ball and grinding of the stump would likely be included in the repair process. 

​So there you have it! Hopefully, these tips and debunked misconceptions will help ease some of the stress when it comes to emergency tree removals. 

If you’re in the Athens or Watkinsville, Georgia area and would like to get a quote, whether for an emergency tree removal or a routine pruning, contact Classic City Arborists today to schedule your free estimate!

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Author

Emily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has worked with Classic City Arborists for the last 5 years. In addition to handling administrative tasks and customer communication (she’s the voice you’ll hear on the phone!), Emily is an experienced copywriter, editor, and storyboard consultant. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.

Sources:
Tree Care Industry Magazine