Insurance is strange!?!

[Fuddy1952]

I have a very old large oak tree near the garage and it's leaning towards it. It's I'm sure 100+ years old and probably 4 ft across at the base.
I had our forestry department fellow out last week and had him look at it, he said it's holding on but soon may have to be cut.
Way too much for me, and close to horse stable as well.
I've been with same insurance company 50 years, so I called them. Agent said if it falls on garage that's covered but preventive maintenance is not. My reasoning is suppose cutting it down is $5,000. If it falls on garage full of cars and upstairs equipment, etc., it could be $100,000 claim or more.
Anyone have experience with this...it looks like they'd save money just paying lesser amount!

 

[ljjhouser]

If you have it cut, I would be sure the company is bonded against damage. Big tree, too bad a logging company isn't interested. But only one tree is guess. best wishes,

 

[ponytug]

Typical. Yes, I agree penny wise pound foolish and all of that. We did a bunch of upgrades to the house specifically to lower the risk of fire, but no discount, so you aren't alone.

However, now that you have advice to take it down, I would take it down promptly lest the insurance company try to claim that you knew it was a problem and failed to act...

All the best,

Peter

 

[4570Man]

Typical. Yes, I agree penny wise pound foolish and all of that. We did a bunch of upgrades to the house specifically to lower the risk of fire, but no discount, so you aren't alone.

However, now that you have advice to take it down, I would take it down promptly lest the insurance company try to claim that you knew it was a problem and failed to act...

All the best,

Peter

Insurance companies actually should have clauses for obviously problem trees like that.

 

[Jstpssng]

No logging company wants to deal with a tree like that. The only thing it's good for is firewood.

Watch a few Youtube videos, buy a saddle and start climbing.


No, DON'T do that!

I would make sure that whoever cuts it has insurance. It appears that there will be some rope work involved to keep some of the limbs off the garage. Do you suppose your insurance would cover it if you DID try to cut it yourself and it fell on the garage?
I agree, insurance companies are funny. It's pretty simple, really though; take as much of your money as they can, while doing their best not to pay out.

 

[Torvy]

Strange. Those same companies will fix rock chips for free to avoid having to replace the whole windshield. There is probably a company that will have a rider to cover preventative maintenance. I'm kinda sad, my insurance agent just retired.

 

[ZTMAN]

I had a neighbor call his insurance company to ask them to assist in paying the cost to take down a dangerous tree. They refused to renew insurance

 

[LD48750]

The insurance co. is betting you will die first.

 

[MoKelly]

The insurance co. is betting you will die first.

Unless they also sold you life insurance!

MoKelly

 

[LD48750]

Unless they also sold you life insurance!

MoKelly

Still don't have to pay for the tree.
Life Ins may be cheaper.

 

[notaz3]

Does your car insurance pay for oil changes to prevent possible engine sizing up?

I see two things here;
1. Insurance is in the, insurance business. Not the preventive maintains business.
2. Now that you have informed the insurance company of a possible dangerous tree, you may be in for a surprise if it falls and you have to put in a claim. They could deny it due to negligence. I'm not speculating if they would or not; but, the thought crosses my mind.

If it is a danger I would get a few estimates from licensed and bonded tree service and have them take care of it. If the tree falls while they are working on it their insurance will be responsible for damage.

 

[Diggin It]

I have a very old large oak tree near the garage and it's leaning towards it. It's I'm sure 100+ years old...

I'll guess the garage was built sometime after that, so .....

 

[newbury]

My reasoning is suppose cutting it down is $5,000.

Have you gotten a quote?
Do you want it cut down just so it doesn't fall on the building or do you have to have it cut down, chopped up, stump removed, swept up, stacked and all pretty?

I just had a large (~3' at base, maybe 40' tall) pine cut down that was leaning over my house in Mississippi. The guy charged $500 total to put it on the ground in ~ 10' sections. No cleanup.
Cleanup would probably have taken him twice as long as getting it horizontal, and cost 3 times as much.

The guy works for the local power company.

Unless you've got some exceptional things I'm not seeing in the pics a crew of 2 should be able to get everything above the gutters on the ground in 2 hours at the most.

Check with the local power companies for references for a licensed and bonded worker and get a good quote with you doing the cleanup.

Like other posters wrote - You know it's a problem, you've told them it's a problem, you can't say "whoops, I didn't think that was going to happen".

 

[mikester]

With insurance you are betting you will have a calamity, the insurance company is betting not.

As a homeowner you are responsible for maintenance and upkeep of your property.

If you fail to adequately maintain, you risk having future claims denied and/or your policy being cancelled.

Example, you have an oil furnace in your home. Your insurance will tell you to replace it with a non-oil furnace setup or you will be denied claims and/or have your policy cancelled.

I don't understand why you expect an insurance company to pay for your property maintenance.

Slip and fall accidents occur, but that doesn't mean your insurance is going to start cleaning your snow and salt your walkways for you. Buy a condo if that's what your expectations are.

 

[riptides]

Close to 10k to take 3 silver maples estimated at 70-80 years old down from around my house.

No insurance coverage for preventive maintenance.

Have three more to go, one is over power lines.

Please send cash. LOL.

 

[Panik]

I just had a large (~3' at base, maybe 40' tall) pine cut down that was leaning over my house in Mississippi. The guy charged $500 total to put it on the ground in ~ 10' sections. No cleanup.
Cleanup would probably have taken him twice as long as getting it horizontal, and cost 3 times as much.

The guy works for the local power company.

Unless you've got some exceptional things I'm not seeing in the pics a crew of 2 should be able to get everything above the gutters on the ground in 2 hours at the most.

Check with the local power companies for references for a licensed and bonded worker and get a good quote with you doing the cleanup.

^ This right here. There's often a very large price difference between putting a tree on the ground in relatively neat sections and completely removing the wood from a property.

Also, start asking around about reputable, independent climbers/arborists who are licensed and bonded. At least in my area, there are a number of very good climbers that work for a larger company for their "day" job and also have their own insured/bonded business so that they can pick up work on their days off. Frequently they have better scheduling availability than the bigger companies and are able slid in slightly under the price of larger companies.

 

[ultrarunner]

A little different… large backyard tree with no access dropped a branch in a windstorm clipping a gutter…

The widow called insurance and company paid for a crane to remove…

Agent said lots of wind damaged and carrier contracted with crew to mitigate…

I was very surprised insurance prices-active

 

[Torvy]

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Largest sawmill in Texas focused on standing dead, fallen & construction site tree re-purposing. The experts for complete tree re-use projects & services.

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Not sure if a place like this could help you out,, but it may be work a look.

 

[cjoffutt]

Close to 10k to take 3 silver maples estimated at 70-80 years old down from around my house.

No insurance coverage for preventive maintenance.

Have three more to go, one is over power lines.

Please send cash. LOL.

Power company won't remove the one over the lines? Around here our Co-Op takes care of all that. Land owner has to sign waivers out the booty if they do not want the tree removed saying they'll pay for downed line damage.

 

[riptides]

Over the lines, yes they will cut the branch off, but next to the lines, no.

Same as they will top a tree under the line, but not take it down.

Power company won't remove the one over the lines? Around here our Co-Op takes care of all that. Land owner has to sign waivers out the booty if they do not want the tree removed saying they'll pay for downed line damage.