It’s a fact, dangerous weather conditions can cause trees to fall and create extremely dangerous situations. For this reason, declining trees that cannot be saved or dead trees in the vicinity of residential properties must be removed before a windstorm can topple them. Every year a significant number of trees fall on houses, cars, buildings, structures, power lines, etc. Many homeowners faced with the unfortunate occurrence of a tree falling and damaging their property are frantic and don’t know what to do. They think, um…

• Is this covered by my insurance company?
• Is this my neighbor’s tree or mine?
• If my tree falls on my neighbor’s yard, am I responsible for the damage?
• What about damage to my property? Am I covered?
• Is there a local tree service immediately available to remove the large tree that fell on my house?
• How long does it take to fix the assembly on my roof?
• Who is responsible for fixing everything on my roof, and at whose expense?

These are all very good and common questions that arise during an emergency situation. In most cases, an insurance company is responsible for paying the bill for emergency tree removal. That is, if a tree falls on a structure such as a house, a shed, a fence, or a car. This is usually when a homeowner should contact their insurance company for help. Insurance companies have preferred provider lists from local tree companies to provide to the homeowner. The homeowner will call for a free estimate to get the job done. In some cases, when a tree falls on a home, an insurance company will provide the homeowner with a general contractor who will handle all aspects of the repair, including finding a tree repair service. In some cases, if a home is located in an HOA, the association representative will handle the situation. Most of the time, this burden falls on the homeowner, and usually the forestry company that responds the fastest and has the ability to get the job done the quickest is given the task. Often, if a tree falls on the roof of a house, a crane is required to help make the removal. Tree companies with a fully staffed crane operator and their own crane are best suited for this type of tree removal.

If a tree falls through a house, the job is usually done within hours of the occurrence, unless it’s pouring with rain at 3am when it’s dark outside. In this case, a tarp is usually placed on the house, or the part of the house that was damaged is locked up overnight until daylight. The estimation and emergency tree work is complete by the time the sun rises that morning. It is much safer to perform emergency tree removals during the day. There are many emergency tree removal scenarios, and local tree removal companies are immediately available to the customer. Once a downed tree is removed from a home, a contractor will fix it up and enclose everything in the roof. Repair to the roof assembly is completed by a different contractor and is separate from tree removal.

So what if it was my neighbor’s tree that fell on my house, then who is responsible? This can be a risky situation as the neighbors want to maintain a good relationship with each other. Technically, any part of a tree that has fallen on someone’s property is that person’s responsibility. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whose tree it originally was when it was standing. There is a scenario where your neighbor could be liable if it was originally her tree to begin with. That is, if the neighbor was negligent and refused or refused to remove a dangerous tree from her property after being told to do so. So the load can possibly fall on them. The property on which a fallen tree rests generally determines who is responsible for cleanup.

To carry out an operation as complicated as emergency tree work, tree services must have the right experience and equipment. There have been many times when large storms hit the DC metropolitan area and caused significant damage to trees. The tree service industry is known to be one of the most dangerous in the world. Hiring a licensed and fully insured professional tree service is an absolute must. Lives are lost and significant injuries occur every day in the tree service business. It is a priority to hire a reputable, experienced and well-equipped company that can complete the job safely.

JL Tree Service – Tree removal