County's tree falling on my neighbor's house

[adjusterjack]

There must be a tree joke in here someplace. But I have to go grocery shopping.

 

[lalexander0504]

My husband does tree removal for a living. He gets a lot of calls with similar situations. If you send the county a certified letter informing them that the tree needs removed and include a quote or estimate provided by a removal company, should they not take action and the tree falls, it now falls on their insurance to cover the damage, not yours. As long as you send the letter certified, someone will be required to sign for it, and this suffices that they were notified and failed to take action.

 

[cur1osul]

My husband does tree removal for a living. He gets a lot of calls with similar situations. If you send the county a certified letter informing them that the tree needs removed and include a quote or estimate provided by a removal company, should they not take action and the tree falls, it now falls on their insurance to cover the damage, not yours. As long as you send the letter certified, someone will be required to sign for it, and this suffices that they were notified and failed to take action.

This seems to be the most reasonable/informative answer so far.

BUT

There are at least 20 trees that have SOME change of hitting my house if they fall ... I was hoping for a more general type of letter.

 

[adjusterjack]

If you send the county a certified letter informing them that the tree needs removed and include a quote or estimate provided by a removal company, should they not take action and the tree falls, it now falls on their insurance to cover the damage, not yours. As long as you send the letter certified, someone will be required to sign for it, and this suffices that they were notified and failed to take action.

Sorry, no, it doesn't work that way. The city could deny the claim and the homeowner would have to prove that there actually was a hazardous condition at the time the letter was written. That the tree loses branches in the wind now and then doesn't do it. That a tree nearby was blown over by 60 mph winds certainly doesn't do.

What you're suggesting is like me writing to my city government saying that the drainage canal behind my house "might" overflow one day and if it does I'm holding the city responsible for damage to my house. How far do you think I would get with a claim if one day it did overflow and damage my house?

 

[lalexander0504]

Sorry, no, it doesn't work that way. The city could deny the claim and the homeowner would have to prove that there actually was a hazardous condition at the time the letter was written. That the tree loses branches in the wind now and then doesn't do it. That a tree nearby was blown over by 60 mph winds certainly doesn't do.

What you're suggesting is like me writing to my city government saying that the drainage canal behind my house "might" overflow one day and if it does I'm holding the city responsible for damage to my house. How far do you think I would get with a claim if one day it did overflow and damage my house?

It actually does work that way. We have had several several customers use this route and then successfully get the opposing owner's insurance company to pay. Property owners are legally responsible to maintain the trees on their property, especially if it poses risk of damage to neighboring properties.

 

[adjusterjack]

It actually does work that way. We have had several several customers use this route and then successfully get the opposing owner's insurance company to pay.

Hooray for them.

Property owners are legally responsible to maintain the trees on their property, especially if it poses risk of damage to neighboring properties.

True. But that's only part of the story.

Google negligence law if you need convincing.

 

[not2cleverRed]

It actually does work that way. We have had several several customers use this route and then successfully get the opposing owner's insurance company to pay. Property owners are legally responsible to maintain the trees on their property, especially if it poses risk of damage to neighboring properties.

Actually, that's an oversimplification of the law. And it has been my experience that tree removal people aren't exactly legal experts about trees.

 

[Zigner]

My husband does tree removal for a living. He gets a lot of calls with similar situations. If you send the county a certified letter informing them that the tree needs removed and include a quote or estimate provided by a removal company, should they not take action and the tree falls, it now falls on their insurance to cover the damage, not yours. As long as you send the letter certified, someone will be required to sign for it, and this suffices that they were notified and failed to take action.

Do you really think that a letter from a tree removal company stating that the tree needs to be removed will carry any weight in court or to an insurance company? No. An arborist report is needed, as has been pointed out more than once in this thread.