If a neighbor's tree fell on your property who is liable?

In the United States at least, no one is held liable for acts of nature. If a tree fell on your property whether from your yard, your neighbor's yard, blown in from some national forest down the street or some other yard due to a natural occurrence you are responsible for the removal of debris on your own property. You may be covered under your own homeowner's policy for the damages and removal depending on the circumstances and on your insurance coverage.

In many states, the tree must damage a structure for the debris removal to be covered. In almost all cases in the U.S. barring some proven negligence it is our own responsibility. The average homeowner is not expected to be an expert on trees.

Bear in mind, these rules may be different in other countries. Another Perspective: If you had notified your neighbor, preferably in writing, of the possibility of damage from the tree and requested to have the tree trimmed or removed due to a dangerous condition then the neighbor may be liable for damages. A tree owner must act reasonably to prevent trees from damaging the neighbor's property.

If your neighbor's tree is in a dangerous condition, you should send the letter by certified mail to the neighbor (and if possibly to their insurance company and yours) stating that they need to cut the branches or remove the tree to avoid any potential damage to your property. You should take some photos and keep them with a copy of the letter and the green card. Ignoring a damaged or unhealthy tree could create liability.

Acts of nature are beyond our control. However, a tree owner must act reasonably to prevent trees from damaging the neighbor's property. 1- Your insurance company would not pay for damages to the neighbor simply because you have no legal liability to the neighbor for the act of nature that caused the loss.

Your first party insurance is specific to you and your property, not his. 2- If the tree was obviously dead and you had prior notice from obvious observation or actual notice from the neighbor of the dangers you would have had a duty owed to the neighbor to abate that danger or hazard. Your failure to abate the danger would be the causal relationship to his damage.

3- In the above case, the insurance carrier would possibly pay for the damage to the neighbor out of the liability portion of your policy. The reason for this is the verbage, "we will pay all sums you are legally liable to pay" in the liability section of the policy. This is general in nature and should not be used in any specific case or tort.

Each carrier and each jurisdiction may have varying opinions in this area. Usually, reasonable people will discuss such an issue and maybe even help each other. Technically, the tree is the responsible of the person who has the tree growing on their property.

But it is a lot more neighborly to help clean up the mess, even if it is not your tree. In many jurisdictions the property owner is responsible for the removal of the portion of the tree that is lying on their property from storm damage. If the tree hits your house your own insurance pays for the removal and damages.

However, a question of negligence may be raised if you have notified the owner of the poor condition of the tree and you may try to hold the tree owner liable for the damages. Homeowners shouldn't be able to ignore the danger a diseased or weakened tree may do to a neighbor's property. Ask your insurance company to explain your rights and your liability in your state.

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