Spring officially begins on Saturday, March 20th, and it’s time for thunderstorms. It’s the ideal time to review what your insurance may or may not cover when it comes to damage from fallen trees. It can only take one storm to topple even a sturdy tree in your yards. Once the storm passes you may be left wondering whether your homeowners insurance will help pay for the costs involved with removing the branches and debris.
Typically, there are a number of factors to determine whether your homeowners insurance policy will provide coverage for fallen trees. A few examples can include: what cause the tree to fall, and what kind of damage resulted.
Here are five important things to keep in mind:
- Your homeowners insurance likely covers tree removal and damage repairs for your home and other insured structures, such as fences.
- If there’s no damage, there’s likely no insurance coverage.
- Your city or municipality may clean up trees that fall into the street, but you may still have reason to file an insurance claim.
- You may have coverage even if a tree falls from your neighbor’s property.
- Your car insurance may cover damage to your vehicle from a fallen tree.
For more details, and tips for filing an insurance claim for a fallen tree, take a look at this article from one of our top carriers, Safeco Insurance.
For more information, read your policy or check with your agent to learn about what types of coverage and how much coverage your policy provides for damage caused by fallen trees.
As a Trusted Choice Agent, we have access to resources to better serve our clients! Here’s an in depth look at coverage for fallen trees from an expert.
Looking for information on how to prevent trees from falling in the first place? Know that it’s much harder for a strong healthy tree to be knocked down in a storm. Likely, it will be an older, possibly unhealthy tree that will be pushed over. It’s important to be proactive and remove any trees that look unhealthy on your property – particularly if they are close to your home. Take a look at this article from Hippo, Ask Hippo: Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Fallen Trees?
Is it time for your annual insurance review? An annual insurance review helps ensure your policies are up to date with the coverage you need today. Call us today at 724-575-7237 to discuss your recent life changes and updated your policies as needed.