Gary Fowler
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2008
- Messages
- 11,917
- Location
- Bismarck Arkansas
- Tractor
- 2009 Kubota RTV 900, 2009 Kubota B26 TLB & 2010 model LS P7010
This is exactly what I have found to be the case regarding trees. Regardless of which side of the property line the tree is own, the damage is taken care of by the home owners insurance (the one that has the damage) even though the tree might be on neighbors property.Neighbor had a tree on there property and lost a huge branch. Branch came down on our fence, and the sunroom on the back of the house. This was one week after closing.I was under the same impression, that we are liable for a tree on our property. I contacted the owner of the property next door. And he paid to fix the fence. The tree limb thankfully did not hurt the house. And I just cut and removed the limb myself, and the fence. Neighbor paid for the material.
That being said, after having two tornado's pass really close to the house, I have since found out that it isn't the case. We got hit buy the first tornado. Neighbors had trees on our property and vise versa. A tree branch from the neighbors actually went through the windshield of my old truck.
Here's what we found out from our insurance company. First, they don't cover tree removal, unless it's on the house, shed, or fence. If it's on a vehicle, whom ever owns that vehicle, there insurance is responsible for damage. So if a tree on your neighbors property falls on your vehicle, home, fence, shed, barn, ect..... your insurance takes care of it. And for a vehicle, it's based on what coverage you have on the vehicle. In my case, since the truck was old and I just had liability on the truck, I had to pay for the new windshield. The neighbors are not liable for it. The only time they are liable, is if they go to remove it, and drop it on your property. Then it's actually a civil matter to be settled by the party's involved or the courts,
That being said, I've gotten together with my neighbors and gone in halves with them to remove nuisance trees on the property lines. Had neighbors drop trees on my fence a couple different times. He was really embarrassed and said he would reimburse me for fixing that section. It was just steel drive posts and welded wire. I just had a good chuckle at his expense, then we straightened it back up as best we could after removing the tree
As for cutting a limb etc that overhangs a property, sure you might be legally right to do it but it could cause some really bad feelings with your neighbor if it disfigured a tree. Best to get agreement on how to handle a potentially dangerous tree prior to just butchering away.
In the OP's instance, I would just move the shed if possible and it looks like that is the best solution since cutting off the overhang will really make the tree unbalanced so cutting down the entire tree would be the only way and that would only be safely done after moving the shed.
