Trees are wonderful things that bring character, shade and life to your garden, but when they grow too big and are too close to your home they can cause problems – both practical and when it comes to your home insurance.
The practical issues that
insurers worry about can be placed primarily into two categories: falling/dropping
damage and subsidence/heave.
So, when an insurance
company considers the risk profile for your property it will often be
interested in the trees that surround it and the damage that may have been
caused by them in the past, as well as the potential for issues in the future.
Insurers are risk-averse,
so it is often their default to assume risk and either to slap a premium on
your policy or to limit their cover in some way to limit their risk exposure. But
it does not always have to be that way. This article looks at what insurance
policies tend to worry about and how your friendly neighbourhood tree surgeon
may be able to help you keep those insurance costs down and your property
properly protected.
My neighbour’s tree caused
damage to my property
Some insurance policies
have a third party element to them, which means that you can make a claim
against your neighbour’s insurance if their tree causes damage to your
property, but others will not, so you may need to rely on private legal
recourse. Either way it will be important to your case for you to be able to evidence
that the damage was caused by your neighbour’s tree and that this was as a
result of negligence, i.e. ignoring signs of weakness that led to it falling
into your lounge or that their neglect of its maintenance resulted in the root
system gaining too much of a hold on your side of the fence and causing
subsidence. You can also claim on your own policy, but there will be an excess
to pay and your own insurance policy will go up significantly in price from
then onwards.
Tree or branch falling
damage
Most insurance policies
will cover you for unforeseen damage from your trees. So, if a strong wind
knocks a tree over into your roof, smashing a few windows along the way or if a
lightning strike causes branches to fly off into your living room, you’re
probably covered. Branches and trees can fall at any time, even without a
strong wind, flooding or lightening, but in such circumstances your insurance
company may have some additional questions for you about the way you look after
your trees as the signs may have been there for a while if the weakness had
been caused by infection or infestation. And, if you fail to regularly maintain
your trees, the root systems can grow and can cause damage or the branches can become
unsustainably heavy, and in extreme circumstances cause the tree to overbalance
and fall.
Subsidence or heave
Insurance policies
usually cover this sort of damage, but a claim will often mean a significant
increase in future insurance costs. Subsidence is caused when the roots of a
tree suck too much moisture from the soil, drying it out and making it unstable
and this can impact on the stability of the foundations of your home. If you’re
worried that a tree is too close to your home or getting too big, your
insurance company may ask you to remove it or you might decide to do so as a
preventative measure. However, removing a tree can sometimes cause more damage
than leaving it where it is, which is why it’s so important to get professional
advice before taking action. When you remove a tree, you change the soil
environment in which it stood. The moisture your tree used to absorb will be left
in the soil, resulting in it becoming waterlogged and it will expand, causing
heave, and this can cause cracking in foundations and walls.
Your friendly local tree
surgeon
Tree surgeons and arborists know far more about trees and their effects on properties than most insurers do. So, if you have a tree you worry may be an issue for your home or for the insurance companies you’re hoping to approach for a policy to cover your property, then call in a friendly neighbourhood tree specialist. They can conduct a thorough survey of your trees and produce a report that will provide a detailed and complete view of the condition, maintenance plan and safety of your trees. This, and regular maintenance will help you to avoid any issues, or to head them off before they become a real problem. But the report can also be used to reassure nervous insurers – if you can provide evidence to show that there are no problems for them to worry about, you can avoid increased costs and/or policy restrictions.
Make sure to see other blogs for more information.
To book a survey and consultation with one of our ARB Approved arborists for advice on your trees or to book our tree surgeons to prune/maintain or fell your tree(s), call us on 0208 292 8992.
