Insurance - will they pay for a fallen tree

[Michael Schumacher]

Morning everyone,

I'm sure some of you heard that Omaha, NE got hit again with another sever storm on Friday evening. 70-90 mph straight line winds. They sounded the tornado sirens, so my wife, son and I went downstairs and rode the storm out. The wind really blew and blew. After the wind quit and the radar showed we were mostly on the back edge of it, we went upstairs. I opened the front door and looked out to see our Linden tree was blown over. Broke right at the ground, snapped, no roots came up, just snapped. Yesterday my BIL and a friend helped clean it up. I took one load of branches to a drop off sight - took an hour and half to get that done.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should call my insurance company about this. I would think that my property value has decreased by loosing this tree that was around 18" to 20" on the trunk.

Michael

PS: I'll post pictures of it later.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'd call an ask your insurance agent. The insurance company might consider your property a lower risk now due the tree being removed and less a hazard.

[David G Baker]

Some insurance companies will cover downed trees but the problem may be that the value of the downed tree may not reach your deductible amount. If a claim is filed your premium may go up even if you do not get any $ from the claim due to the deductible.
I lost three trees in the big storm that hit us around two weeks ago and I had the same thought about insurance but decided not to file a claim because my deductible is $500.

[Mike Wilkins]

Insurance regulations and policies vary from state to state. But in the standard policy, the only way for a tree to be covered is through a loss caused by one of the 7 or 8 named perils, or the tree hits a covered structure, such as a house or barn. Just a blown-over tree that hits the ground would not be covered. Not even the perceived loss of value of the property from such an event.
Check with your agent.

[Jim O'Dell]

I've heard in Texas that it may depend also on if the tree was "alive" at the time, or dead/diseased. Your agent will clear this up for you tomorrow. Jim.

[Ted Shrader]

Insurance regulations and policies vary from state to state. But in the standard policy, the only way for a tree to be covered is through a loss caused by one of the 7 or 8 named perils, or the tree hits a covered structure, such as a house or barn.Michael -

That was the standard from my experience with hurricane Hugo in Charleston, SC. Tree hits the house (or other structure), they will pay for the damage and tree removal, but not the loss of value of the tree.

Glad nothing more severe happened.

Regards,
Ted

[David Shleifer]

"Standard" insurance policies (Referred to as HO3 or HO3 00 15 if thy have extended coverage) do cover trees in that if A tree falls on your house, they will pay to cut up the tree and fix your house. In my experience, the existence of trees does impact the cost of your insurance. Your cost is more impacted by "amount of insurance (connected to the cost to rebuild), age of dwelling, location relative to hydrants and fire stations, and a whole bunch of other things. One of the important issue in filing a claim, is that it alters your loss free status. Most companies give discounts if a location (the house, not you) has not had a claim in 3 to 5 years. If you file a claim (or report a fallen tree) you may alter this status (different companies have different policies). Altering this status would cause you to lose a discount that may be as high as 15%. If the tree did not do any damage, and is already cleaned up, I would not report it. I also would not mention it to my agent.

Insurance is often misunderstood. The purpose of insurance (at least from the perspective of the insurance company) is to pay for losses that you can't. That is why there are such deep discounts for higher deductible insurance. The high deductible shows that you understand this (it also shows up in the average loss numbers, and affects residual market burdens).

I work in the insurance industry and used to provide pricing support for homeowners (and auto). The above is true for the companies I worked for. Other companies may have programs where they ignore the first claim, or drop policyholders who do claim. Pricing has gone soft in the industry, so getting dropped is less likely. Some companies consider a claim to be any time you report one, not if they pay it. That is why I wouldn't tell the agent (he may be required by contract to report the claim to the insurer).

I'll try to follow the thread in case I can answer any of your other questions. Sorry for rambling.

[Carl Eyman]

Obviously policies may vary, but after Katrina we had 3 evergreens that while not blown over were leaning at a big angle. The insurance co. did pay for removal on basis they were part of landscaping.

[Jim Mattheiss]

We had a T3 Microburst come thru a few years ago. A friend lost a bunch of large trees in her front yard. None of them hit the house, so she had no basis for a homeowners claim.


I have an awesome tree in the back yard - 80' spread and what looks like a 3' diameter trunk. After every heavy storm I look outside to see how the "old lady" has fared. So far, so good. I don't know what kind of tree she is but she's a stately 'ole girl. Which reminds me - I need to get the tree service in to give her and some of the other big trees a once over. They are due for a thinning out.

Good luck with the insurance company.

Jim

[Tom Godley]

Most standard home policies have coverage for tree removal - but do not pay for what you believe to be the lower value of the house without the tree.

They are not paying for the tree but the removal of the tree.


Although, I do remember a situation in Texas where a new house was hit by a huge tree. The tree destroyed the garage as well as the car in the garage - it also took out the power and the sprinkler system. The loss of water caused all the new landscaping to die in a heat spell. The insurance co. did pay to replace all the dead landscape.

Another thing to remember in most locations - if your neighbors tree falls on your property and hits your house or outbuilding your insurance pays for this and you are responsible for whatever deductible is attached to the policy.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Morning everyone,

I'm sure some of you heard that Omaha, NE got hit again with another sever storm on Friday evening. 70-90 mph straight line winds.

Depends on your policy. Read the exclusions.

[Joe Jensen]

Not sure about today, but the farm I grew up on was hit square with a category 3 tornado in 1965. Took out 8 farm buildings and hundreds of trees. I know that back them the insurance company paid some amount for the diminished value due to the complete loss of the wind break (trees)..joe