Home owners insurance question?

Okay here goes......Lets say your neighbors house is 50 feet to the south of your lot line. And 10 feet in on your side of the lot line there is a 75 foot high maple tree. Then one day that tree falls over toward that neighbors house, smashes the schitt out of his attached garage. That tree has been there for 50 years. ----Does his insurance company pay for his garage/house to get fixed or does my insurance company fix it?
His house and mine were built in the late 90s.

The tree has not fallen over yet....but it is massive, 24-26" at the base. If a strong wind from the NW comes it could go over.

Your tree, your responsibility i say .

Buy his house or cut the tree down.

If in doubt call your insurance company and get their take on it. I'm sure they will encourage you to remove the tree.

Depends on your state insurance laws. In my state my insurance will take care on me then go to your company for to be reimbursed. Then I could take you to small claims for the deductible.

Rick

It used to be, in many jurisdictions, wind damage was considered "an act of God". You weren't considered liable unless they could prove the tree was a known hazard due to visible rot, dead limbs, etc.. If no visible defect, I wouldn't worry about it. If something does happen, let his insurance deal with it.

Just to add that having an umbrella liability policy is cheap insurance to cover whatever your home owners or auto insurance might not. Especially a good idea if you are a farmer.

Dutchman and tanker touched on it but a legal opinion might be helpful too.

do the right thing , take the tree down & move on
would not ever consider allowing harm to happen to a neighbor if it could be avoided
your tree, your $$$$$$$
bob

If my math is correct, just cut off the top 15 feet of the tree.

his insurance will pay for the damage--however his insurance co will try to collect from yours if the tree had defects--like decay,rot,broken branches,etc

Boy Bob, I could never take your advice. I've lived on 8 acres for 50 years. North line runs 1000 feet back from highway. My land is forested and so is the vacant adjacent land. Along comes a developer who builds a subdivision; clears all the tress. Guess what my trees do over next 30-40 years. Grow towards the sunlight right over them houses. Trees fall their insurance pays.

I've been there and done that many times in past. The way insurance companies look at it is if the tree has leafs, it's alive and when it is blown over they blame it on God, calling it "AN ACT OF GOD"

However if the tree is dead, then the person who has the tree on his property will pay, just that simple. Doesn't matter is tree looks bad, if it has leafs, it's alive.

My wife has been in the insurance industry since 1975.The only thing she says is you got more wrong answers than right.

It would cost a lot of money, and I like trees. I have an all wooded lot, minus where the house driveway and garage are, oh and the septic field.

If the wind pushes the tree over you are not liable. It is considered a act of God.

On the other hand if the tree falls on its own and the neighbor can prove that you knew or should have know the tree had a defect then you are liable.
It can be full of leaves. But if the trunk is showing rot or bug infestation you are liable.

Is home owners insurance regulated by the federal government with one standard for the whole country? Or does each state set its own regulations, so they can vary a lot from one state to another state?

Burn the neighbors house down. Problem solved.

No one deserves neighbors.

Gene Kidding.

just have a boom truck trim it down some and remove
main trunk offshoots. Tree man that knows what he is doing, and the tree will recover fine.

75 foot Maple has seen a lot of storms....not something I would fret about if it's healthy.
Any storm that will take down a healthy giant maple will probably snatch your roof off or pick up your shed, and drop that on the neighbors house anyway.

If you know the tree is in bad shape and do nothing about it, the insurance company will not cover any damage. As per my agent in Ohio.

What does his insurance policy cover in this case? Well, assuming he's actually insured, his homeowner's policy covers all hazards not explicitly excluded. Flooding and earth movement would be excluded. Having a neighbor's tree fall on his house would not be excluded, so his insurance should pay damages in excess of his deductible.

What does your insurance cover? Your homeowner's policy has liability coverage. If you are sued by your neighbor or his insurer, your insurance company will defend you and/or pay the claim. Note that even if your neighbor's insurer covers the damage, he can still come after you in small claims court for the deductible.

If the tree is obviously in risk of falling on your neighbor's house, you would be negligent in not taking it down. If it's in good health and your neighbor hasn't raised any concerns, then I'd say you're in the clear if it falls. Which is not to say that your rates won't go up if it does fall; it's likely your insurer would end up paying his insurer for the damages.

Recently we had a huge maple taken out from one of our rental properties. It cost over three grand, due to its size, location, and the fact that the tree service outfits have all the business they can handle right now. At the time, the house was uninsured; I doubt we could have gotten insurance with the tree standing. After we took it out, we had no problems getting insurance. The neighbors were very grateful for its removal.

Had a tree hit by lightning in my backyard that then fell over onto my neighbor's house here in Michigan. His insurance company paid for the damage to his house and removal of the tree off of it. Mine paid for the portion that was still on my property. I got 3 quotes, did the work myself and submitted the lower quote to my insurance company. They paid it, no questions asked.