If a neighbor's tree falls halfway into my yard and breaks my fence, and other damage, whos Insurance pays?

Answer 1

You're getting a lot of advice from people who appear to be making some large assumptions about who owes for this.

Most likely your insurance will have to pay. In order for your neighbor's insurance to cover your damages you will have to prove that they are liable for the damages. They have to be negligent in some manner in order for their insurance to pay. If you had a windstorm and that blew the tree over the neighbor does not carry any negligence for that.

Their insurance does not have to pay just because the tree is on his property.

If the tree was dead or had a disease and they had been warned to take the tree down and they ignored that warning then that could be considered negligence and their company may pay you. However, it very seldom works out that way.

Good Luck

Answer 2

You're getting a lot of posts from people with no insurance experience.

Your neighbors insurance covers his house, your insurance covers your house.

You can files a claim to get your insurance company to remove the tree, repair the fence and fix anything else damaged. Some policies have a limit on tree removal: $500 is not uncommon so it's the adjustor's call.

The only way to get your neighbors insurance company to pay is to sue him and prove some sort of negligence. Good luck with that.

Answer 3

Your homeowners will be the policy to pay for the damage to your fence, unless the neighbor deliberately caused the tree to fall (highly unlikely). Your homeowners will pay a limited amount of debris removal, for the part of the tree that fell on the fence.

LAND isn't covered for falling trees on the standard homeowners policy. OBJECTS are covered, for being damaged by falling trees (there are exceptions!). So the fence damage is covered, subject to your deductible. The "other damage" will depend on what the damage is, and if your neighbor caused it.

Answer 4

I had a neighbor's tree fall during a hurricane. It fell backwards into his yard, but some of the underground roots went under my fence and on my property. Needless to say, it lifted up and destroyed that part of my fence and part of my backyard. My insurance co. said that when this occurs as an act of nature, each party is responsible for the damage on their own property no matter whose tree it is. My insurance co. paid for my fence replacement. It may vary state to state. I live in Florida.

Answer 5

It all depends on why the tree fell in the first place.

If it fell on your fence because your neighbor was negligent, then it would be the neighbor's responsibility. However, you may have to PROVE your neighbor was negligent in some way and that can be difficult to do.

It's never as simple as it seems.

And regardless of whose insurance pays, you should probably be aware that the details will vary by state. For instance, even the broadest forms of homeowners policies in Virginia typically depreciate for fences. (Even if you have full replacement cost on the structure itself and/or replacement cost on contents.) So, you may want to check on that before you decide to file a claim on your own policy -- it may not be worthwhile, depending on the amount of damage (because you'll be charged claims points if you use your insurance to pay for the damages and that means you'll pay higher insurance premiums for the next three years.) Definitely worth it for big claims, but rarely for small ones.

Talk to your agent. Ask for the specific clauses of your policy that apply and talk to them about whether or not the value of your fence would be depreciated. At least you'll know what you're dealing with going in.

Answer 6

Tort law calls this an act of God, and your neighbor is not liable. Your neighbor may be liable for failing to use "reasonable care". If the tree was in clear danger of falling because of disease or damage, your neighbor cannot blame the wind for the ultimate collapse. Your neighbor might agree to split the cost, especially as your neighbor benefits from the fence, too. But there is no legal requirement to do so.

Answer 7

Your home-owners should pay. Unless the other person call their insurance company and they get the entire thing up. But they are not required to fix the damaged fence.

Its an "act of nature" and if the neighbor's tree falls into your house or property your insurance has to take care of it.

Answer 8

I think that EITHER you or your neighbor can file a respective claim with the Homeowner's Insurance. Call your agent to verify your policy coverage. By the way, was wind or decay (an act of God/nature) responsible for the tree's breakage or was the neighbor attempting to cut down the tree and failed to have it fall onto his own property?

Answer 9

99.99999% of the time, the damage is considered an act of nature, so it doesn't matter where the tree started out...

If your car is damaged, you fix your own car. If your house is damaged, you fix your own house. Your neighbors don't owe you anything and neither do you owe them anything.

Might want to be nice and split the cost of the tree removal assuming its a decently big job.

Answer 10

The only true way to find out is to contact your insurance company and explain what happened. They will tell you. though I would think that even though it was someone else's tree you insurance should still cover it.