Does homeowners insurance cover tree removal? Fallen trees explained

When a tree hits your house

If wind, lightning, or the weight of ice or snow brings a tree down onto the house or another covered structure, your policy usually pays to remove the tree from the building and to repair what it broke. Those are the covered perils that matter here. It doesn't matter whose yard the tree grew in.

Removing the part of the tree that is on the building is part of the repair. Cutting up and hauling away the rest of the tree from the yard may fall under a separate, smaller limit.

A tree that falls without hitting anything

A tree that comes down across the lawn and damages nothing is usually not covered for removal. Many policies make an exception when the tree blocks your driveway or a ramp you need to get in and out, and pay a small amount to clear it.

Trees that die and fall from rot or disease are a different matter. If a dead tree was obviously failing and nobody dealt with it, the insurer may treat the damage as neglect.

What if it was the neighbor's tree?

Your own policy normally pays for damage to your property, even when the tree was the neighbor's. Your insurer may then try to recover the money from the neighbor's insurer, but only if the neighbor was negligent, for example if they were told the tree was dead and did nothing. A healthy tree blown over in a storm is usually nobody's fault.

Limits on tree removal

Policies often cap debris removal for trees at a modest figure per storm, with a lower amount for each tree. Replacing a tree or shrub you lost is usually limited too, and many policies don't pay to replace trees lost to wind at all. Check your policy for both figures before you hire a tree service.

Your deductible applies once to the storm claim, not once per tree.

How to file a fallen tree claim

1. Get everyone out of any damaged room, and call the utility if lines are down.
2. Photograph the tree where it fell, the damage, and the stump or break.
3. Report the claim and ask whether you can hire a tree service before the adjuster arrives. Removal often can't wait.
4. Keep every invoice: tree service, tarps, board-up, and a hotel if the house isn't safe.
5. Keep the stump or a photo of it. It can show whether the tree was healthy or rotten.

Belongings damaged by the tree

A tree through the roof or a window usually lets rain in too. Furniture, electronics and anything else crushed or soaked are part of the claim under your personal property coverage. List them room by room. Our home inventory checklist is a good place to start.

Fences, sheds, cars and power lines

A tree that falls on a fence, a detached garage or a shed is usually covered under the other structures part of your policy, with the same deductible. A tree that falls on a car is a matter for the car's comprehensive coverage, not your home policy, even if the tree was yours. If a tree brings down a power line, stay clear and call the utility: the line to the house may be your responsibility, but the utility's poles and wires are theirs.

Avoiding a denial for a dead or leaning tree

Insurers pay for sudden events, not for trees that were failing for years. A tree with a hollow trunk, large dead limbs, mushrooms at the base or a lean that is getting worse is the kind they will call neglect after it falls. If you have one near the house, an arborist's visit now costs far less than a denied claim later.

Keep any arborist's report or tree service invoice. If a healthy tree does come down in a storm, a record showing you looked after your trees is useful evidence that the fall was sudden.

Can you remove the tree before the adjuster sees it?

Usually yes, when leaving it would cause more damage or put people at risk. Your policy expects you to protect the house from further harm. Photograph everything first, from several angles, and keep the tree service's invoice and a note of what they found. Tell your adjuster before the work starts if you can reach them. A short phone call or email saying the tree has to come off today avoids an argument later about whether removal was needed.

Where Indemnia helps

Indemnia turns photos of the damaged rooms into a list of belongings with today's prices, so the contents part of a fallen-tree claim is ready when the adjuster asks for it.