Hot Rods Shop damage- Picture added

Nope- three trusses busted, broke lights and wiring ripped out plus sheathing, metal roof etc

 

Damn

 

Try contacting your insurance agent and explain your concerns to him. Send him some photos of the tree in relationship to your building and property to illustrate the issue and ask his advice. If possible have him come to your property and survey the issue himself. He's likely dealt with these kinds of situations before. If the tree poses a clear and imminent danger to your property, perhaps your neighbor's insurance will pay to have the tree trimmed back or removed. Less any deductible, of course.

Some years ago I had a similar minor incident with a neighbor's tree. The policy at that time, in Indiana at least, was that the condition of the tree played a big part in determining the responsibility for damages. If the tree was healthy and properly maintained then any damages it caused to my property were my responsibility. Kind of an "acts of God" thing.

If the tree was dead, or mostly so and not properly maintained, then the responsibility for my damages fell on the neighbor. More a case of "negligence" on the owner's part.

Sadly, in my case the tree in question was not "dead" enough to be considered an imminent danger. But my insurance company handled the claim with no questions asked. They paid for the repairs to my fence as well as for a few hours of my labor for cutting and cleaning up the branches afterwards.

There's no sense in getting into it much more with the neighbor. If you're both insured, then let the insurance companies battle it out among themselves. That's ultimately how the claim will be settled anyways.

 

I had a neighbor's tree fall and hit my house. In CT I was responsible for the cleanup and any repairs needed as it
is considered an act of god. The law here is unless You have notified the neighbor of a tree needing to be removed
as a danger to your property ie a certified letter you are not able to go after them. This reminds me I need to notify
them about a couple of other trees that look dead along the property line.

 

Sorry about your tree accident, the Positive is you have a Beautiful property, the truck and building will be repaired with some PIA involved. I also live in a pine forest and left trees standing too close to the house and garages, I've owned this property 30+ years, retired and moved here full time 14 years ago and so far when shit happened trees have not hit anything yet, one huge one in the space between garage and pole building and a few near the house. I made my choices and have everything insured properly. When I sit on one of my decks or in the sun room it's all worth it, Serenity Now.

 

His insurance won’t typically cover damage on or to your property. That’s all on your own property insurance.

That’s the way it is…read your policy.

On the other hand, you’re entirely within your rights having a tree service with a boom truck remove any portion of the tree hanging over the property line.

The neighborly thing to do is talk to the neighbor and be open to some type of cost sharing arrangement. If he’s not amenable, go for trimming it on your own.

 

There is one caveat to that... If you trim the tree and that trimming damages it, you can be liable for that damage. Make sure you have an arborist involved to make sure this can be done without causing further issues. There was a news story that popped up a number of months ago about some rich a-hole who cut down multiple large trees on a neighbors property 'because they blocked his view'. The neighbor sued and won, the a-hole has to replace the trees 'with like size replacements'. The cost estimate was over two million dollars....

 

Removing the trees from the neighbor’s property without permission is an entirely different situation. Trimming is fine, though.

Getting an arborist involved is recommended.

 

The only issue here is if there are "irreplaceable" things that are destroyed, be they cars, trucks, family heirlooms, etc. In some cases no amount of insurance payment will replace what is lost. If you have such items that are in danger of damage or destruction it's better to be proactive and eliminate as many elements as possible to decrease the chance of a loss.

 

I only brought that up because if you kill his tree by butchering it, you could be on the hook for replacing it. Transplanting full-sized trees is not cheap....

 

True, as long as you can do so in a safe manner that doesn't open you up to some future liability. I wouldn't be surprised if the two insurance companies might work together to provide suggestions to both parties on how to best manage their coverage and responsibilities. Probably best to let the neighbor know of your intentions if you decide to pursue things further. Don't want to do anything that might lead him to believe you're trying to do anything "behind his back".

 

Misery loves company.....I had a similar "event" in a January ice storm (with high wind speeds) when an 80-foot Oak fell on my machine shop (no cars or projects inside however). An "Act of God" is how the insurance categorizes this so everything is on our own insurance, not the neighbors from where the tree was rooted. Not fun but could have been far worse. This was a testament to Oregon douglas fir with well-sized ridge beam and rafters!

 

Ouch!

 

Exactly what happened to my brothers new shop. F2 Tornado snapped off some large pines, thru roof...Mt Vernon Ohio.

 

"Holy OUCH Batman!"

 

If you have an attorney compose a document & have it notarized expressing your concerns over the tree , send it by registered mail to your neighbor,in Illinois , that will absolve you & your insurance of any financial responsibility . If your ins, co. covers any incident , you'll be responsible for , at a minimum, your deductible ( $$$$$)

 

A couple years ago, I was cutting down some trees on my property with my one neighbour when the other neighbour came out to complain about me cutting down trees that she claimed were on her property. The trees were clearly on my property, and then the argument became I was “destroying” nature, and “if I don’t like trees, I should move back to the city”. Lol! Her husband was out of town at the time and called me a few days later to apologize. Lol!

 

That’s too bad. Hope you get it back in order soon.

 

For what it's worth, shortly after I moved to Chattanooga, I found out about the "act of God" clause in my insurance. The neighbor had 3 trees next to the property line that came down in a high wind. They took out 70' of my fence and were 25' into my yard. I called my insurance company and was told that the neighbor wasn't responsible for the fence or the removal of the trees from my yard. The only way the neighbor could be held responsible would have been if I had notified him by certified mail that I thought that the trees constituted a danger. I don't know if that applies anywhere else, but it sure was an eye-opener for me. He sat out in his backyard the whole time my buddy and I were cutting wood and never offered to help. When we were done, he wanted to borrow my chain saw so his nephew could cut up the wood on his side. If you feel that that pecan tree could damage your property, send him a letter.

 

Same in Tennessee

 

I was fourth generation in a Residential Tree Service. A lot of people use the term, "Act of God", but the long and short of it is, you pay your insurance company to fix your house, not your neighbors. Same with your neighbor. The exception to the rule, was mentioned above. You need to get a Licensed Tree Expert Company to take pics of the offending tree, and write a report of it, possible damage it could do, and send the report and pics registered mail, to the owner of the other property. I've had to use a Sky Hook many times.

 

It's pretty much like that in all states. When people would say their neighbors insurance picked up the tab, I'd look up the laws. Everyone state I looked up was the same. If the neighbor picked up the tab they probably did it out of their pocket because they were good people. I know MD, Pa, VA, and DC are the same, because we worked in those states and had to be licensed in them.

 

This might be something else to consider.

Are there any power or telephone lines that run thru the area where the tree and your shop are located? Are there any easements in the area on your property or the neighbor's? If so, some utility company or such may be responsible for taking care of the problem for you. And nobody's insurance has to take a hit.

 

^this is what i did with a 100ft cedar that died a year ago at my cabin. the power company sent a arborist out and marked the tree for removal... my last visit a month ago noticed it has not been removed yet. i called the piwer company up and also messaged the arborist again. hopefully tree gets removed asap.

 

Hope everything is working out for you JD.