If you have one or more trees on your property, you will have to put some consideration into your care of them. Many people assume their insurance will cover tree damage. In truth, that's not a given. You need to evaluate your tree coverage, then decide what you should do about them before they create damage or a hazard.
Types of Damage That Can Come from Trees
Trees can do a lot of damage to a home or other structures on your property. Worse, they can cause injury or even death in some cases. This can happen in a number of ways.
- Tree branches falling unexpectedly
- Tree branches falling during storms
- Dead trees falling over
- Leaning trees that gradually tip onto power or utility lines
- Tree branches growing into other structures
Even worse, it's not just your own trees you have to worry about. You also have to consider your neighbor's trees, as well as the trees owned by the municipality.
Do you know if your insurance will cover any damages that can arise from these situations? Sometimes, the bill for property damage or injury will come directly to you.
What Does Your Insurance Cover When It Comes to Trees?
Pay close attention to your homeowners policy. Different policies cover different things regarding trees. Even when you have coverage for tree damage, your insurance may have highly specific rules for how you can make a claim for damages.
If in doubt, you should speak to your insurance company about what they will cover and won't. For example, your insurer may cover damage to your home or structures on your property, but only if it occurred during a storm, and they may not cover you at all if a neighbor's tree damages your property.
Deal with the Trees; Maybe Your Insurance Will Help You
No matter what your insurance covers, you should preemptively deal with your trees. Have a tree service like D. C. Tree Service come and inspect your trees. They can point out where you need to prune and where you may have a potential hazard.
If the service finds a potential danger, a dead tree, or a diseased tree, then inform your insurance company. Many insurance companies will pay or help to pay for tree removal or branch cutting if there's a real danger involved. It costs them less to do this than to wait for damage to occur.
In fact, once you're aware of a potential hazard, you should let the insurance company know anyway. Even if the insurance company doesn't help you, it's still important that you deal with any potential hazards that are found. If there's a potential hazard with a source outside of your property, then inform both your insurance company and the town.
