My 20-30 Year old tree is NOW a problem?

[Winter27]

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

Living in any state, we all have issues with Mother Nature. Here in OK we just had a bad storm yesterday (in fact, made a blip of a story on abcnews.com) and my husband and I came home to a note on our front door today from the neighbor, stating that our front yard tree--a 30 to 50 year old Sycamore had caused damage to their car and they wanted to discuss it with us tonite.

The neighbors have lived in their house a minimum of 10 years (we know this from them directly) and as I said, this is NOT a newly-planted tree--it is a beautiful, HEALTHY, established tree--one that provides excellent shade not just for our home but also for theirs. So now before we meet with them tonite, what are OUR rights?

We feel badly that the storm did cause havoc --it's why (I think) that 6 of 10 immediate neighbors on the same block have carports (these are small 1950's cottages with one car garages--the carport is a wonderful part of any home--but these particular neighbors are one of the few without one). But are we liable for any damages and/or are we liable to cut the tree in ANY way? We're willing to trim if it will help, but the tree is such that trimming won't do good for any storm that comes along since tornadoes etc./storm-like conditions will take a vessel and take it any direction. And no, none of it hangs over the property line in 'regular' weather.

We are considering calling the previous owner to see if they had any issues like this with the neighbor...meanwhile, I found this site and am posting. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE GIVEN!What is the name of your state?

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

Living in any state, we all have issues with Mother Nature. Here in OK we just had a bad storm yesterday (in fact, made a blip of a story on abcnews.com) and my husband and I came home to a note on our front door today from the neighbor, stating that our front yard tree--a 30 to 50 year old Sycamore had caused damage to their car and they wanted to discuss it with us tonite.

The neighbors have lived in their house a minimum of 10 years (we know this from them directly) and as I said, this is NOT a newly-planted tree--it is a beautiful, HEALTHY, established tree--one that provides excellent shade not just for our home but also for theirs. So now before we meet with them tonite, what are OUR rights?

We feel badly that the storm did cause havoc --it's why (I think) that 6 of 10 immediate neighbors on the same block have carports (these are small 1950's cottages with one car garages--the carport is a wonderful part of any home--but these particular neighbors are one of the few without one). But are we liable for any damages and/or are we liable to cut the tree in ANY way? We're willing to trim if it will help, but the tree is such that trimming won't do good for any storm that comes along since tornadoes etc./storm-like conditions will take a vessel and take it any direction. And no, none of it hangs over the property line in 'regular' weather.

We are considering calling the previous owner to see if they had any issues like this with the neighbor...meanwhile, I found this site and am posting. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE GIVEN!What is the name of your state?

**A: talk to your insurance agent.

 

[mrdonsmith]

Storm damage caused by the falling of all or part of a healthy tree from your property onto someone else's is clearly an act of God for which you bear no fault or liability. You might be cautioned about contacting your insurance agent, lest it is cataloged as a claim thereby causing a negative impact on your insurance rating factors. Your neighbor should contact THEIR insurance agent about this. Forget about going into things like past history, etc., which has no bearing on this. Your neighbor thinks it's your "responsibility" and he happens to be wrong. There is no "responsibility" that can be assigned here; that's why the act of God principle applies.

 

[moburkes]

Storm damage caused by the falling of all or part of a healthy tree from your property onto someone else's is clearly an act of God for which you bear no fault or liability. You might be cautioned about contacting your insurance agent, lest it is cataloged as a claim thereby causing a negative impact on your insurance rating factors. Your neighbor should contact THEIR insurance agent about this. Forget about going into things like past history, etc., which has no bearing on this. Your neighbor thinks it's your "responsibility" and he happens to be wrong. There is no "responsibility" that can be assigned here; that's why the act of God principle applies.

Yep. Let the neighbor's contact their auto insurance company IF they have comprehensive coverage. If not, they're SOL.