He owned the tree. He's responsible for all damages.

Since it was the neighbour's tree wouldn't they or their insurance company be responsible for damages? I would hope your neighbours would approach you.

Unless the tree was in bad condition and he knew of it, the law says he is in fact not responsible for damages. I would certainly do some research into your homeowners and make sure that what your insurance company is telling you about your policy is true.

I just had this discussion with my insurance agent a couple months ago because we are heavily wooded in our area

I am certain he said in the case of a tree falling, each homeowner (and their insurance) is responible for their own property- unless you can prove he was negligent in not cutting down a diseased or damaged tree.
I would check your policy again....

Debi, as far as removal goes, maybe post something at work or with your neighbors. You may find a wood-burner (like me) that would be willing to cut up and remove in exchange for the wood. - you may need a chipper depending on how many branches....

**lucille, I must have been typing same time as you :)

This post was edited by salgal on Thu, Feb 6, 14 at 12:09

The photos are a good idea, and keep good records of the costs if you have to pay to have the tree removed. Next year, take the total paid and see if you can qualify for a casualty loss deduction on your income tax.
Salgal had a great idea too as far as the possibility of giving the tree away as wood burning fuel in exchange for removal.
If you give the tree to a nonprofit institution for fuel, check with a CPA to see if you can take the value of the tree as a deduction.

The way it works in this state, the neighbor is only responsible if you had notified them in writing you had concerns about the tree. Doesn't seem fair to me but that's the law.

If it came down and damaged something structurally on your property, your insurance pays, not theirs. If it's a matter of landscaping damaged and removal costs, chances are your policy won't cover it, most do not.

In 2007 in a freakish coastal storm (and we're used to ferocious coastal storms here on the coast, just not like this was), neighbors 100' pine came down on our house. My insurance replaced front porch glass, chimney, repaired the roof (it was one year old). They paid for the boom truck needed to lift the tree from the house.

After that, we were on our own for the rest of the tree and debris removal, damaged landscaping. I'm still grateful for friends who had a second boom truck, lots of muscle and power saws. None of us even had power restored that week and they were there pitching in.

The friend with the second truck with crane would take no money, and I appreciate his kindness to this day. I swear, he was as close to a knight on white horse as I will ever see coming to my rescue ;)

When we had several trees come down in a hurricane a few years back, our homeowner's insurance said for the ones that fell without causing damage, the answer was essentially "too bad, so sad" However for the one that caused property damage, not only would they cover the damaged property, but they would cover the removal of both halves of that downed tree as well, even though only one half of the tree caused property damage and the amount of damage caused by the tree was less (much less) than our deductible, the damage plus the removal (plus other damage to the house from the hurricane) was significantly more then the deductible.

Did Allstate even send anyone out? or did they just deny the claim sight unseen over the phone? I have heard that some insurance companies have a standard practice of denying any claim they can, and only when press the matter further will they actually read your policy or look at your claim more closely.

I did a quick search on Allstate s**ks and one of the top ten hits asserts that they are the second worst for this practice. Another claims that due to the fact that Allstate is a publicly traded company they value keeping the investors happy over keeping their policyholders happy.

After my shoot from the hip answer, I did some research.
If the tree was healthy and fell due to the storm, it's "unforeseeable" and actually your responsibility. However, if the tree was diseased or damaged and the neighbor knew it, storm or no storm, it is their responsibility.
I think you'd better talk to Allstate again.

Wow! Our neighbor's tree came down into our yard during a wind storm, tore out our fence and totaled our nephew's truck. His insurance paid for our new fence and David's new (used) truck!

Allstate did not sound interested in even sending anyone out. All my agent said was if the tree didn't fall on the house, it's not covered. Our convo was over in 2 minutes. When I asked her what recourse I had with this neighbor's tree, she said she didn't know. I spoke to our township arborist who said "his tree on my property is our responsibility"...not fair but true. He said to visit the neighbor and see if they will help with costs....some neighbors do, others won't in this kind of situation.

We have no idea if there is any kind of pool damage in and around the area yet. I would think that would be covered by HO. It came down hard and was full of ice.

Once we address the neighbor, I will call the claims dept of Allstate instead of dealing with our agent. Gut tells me it's all on us, especially from the research I've done.

I have no issue giving the wood away, we did that before.

Debi,

I do not of course know what your neighbor will say. But if you request he pay part of the cost even though he has no obligation to do so, since there seem to be quite a few trees in the area, are you prepared to help him with costs if a similar insurance unreimibursed event occurs on his property with one of your trees?

"He owned the tree. He's responsible for all damages."

Nope.
Trees down on your property is YOUR responsibility unless you documented that the tree was damaged and sent written notice in advance of said tree falling.
At least that is how it is in PA.

I corrected my mis-informed post..... I apologize.

From an tax standpoint, there is a pace on your tax form that will cover expenses not covered by insurance that would allow you to deduct the expense. Check with your accountant.

Jim

I am also in PA and had a tree fall down in a storm about 10 years ago. My insurance would cover the neighbor's fence (his property) that the tree fell on, but would not cover the removal of the tree cost. Call your homeowner's insurance company and tell them your problem and get their advice.

Yep, looks like it's our problem up to the property line. I don't agree with this law, but, I can't change it. :-(

Thanks for all the replies.

It doesn't look like your pool will be damaged much. You were lucky that the tree fell more beside it.

I would not assume that the pool.is not damaged. Few people have an understanding about how heavy a tree or large limb is and the impact it can cause when it crashes to the ground. It wouldn't have to hit the pool directly in order to cause damage. Keep an eye out for small cracks and slow leaks.

I would think that your insurance would cover that kind of damage to your property. Inspect your policy with a fine toothed comb.

rhizo, yes, indeed. We won't be able to know what damage there is to the pool until later in the year when we take the cover completely off to inspect and see if there are any cracks in the interior cement of the pool, and outside the deck area as well. We will also have to monitor the pool once it's filled in the summer to see if there are any slow leaks because it was perfectly fine when we closed it up last year.

Unfortunately, when the tree fell, it lapped off the tops of two of our healthy trees, so they will have to come down. These are trees we would NOT cut down otherwise. And the bill grows!!

If it were me, I'd take pictures and show them to my own insurance agent. Let your insurance company handle the whole thing with their insurance carrier. Not your fault so you shouldn't have to pay anything.

My neighbor's tree fell on another neighbor's house. They had to pay for the tree removal but were not responsible for the damage to the house. That home owner was responsible. We're in PA.