Trees are an important part of your homestead, adding both curb appeal and beauty to your home. However, the large size makes them a risk if they ever fall as they can cause a lot of damage and potentially injure people. If a tree does fall, you’ll want to know if your insurance covers the emergency tree services to clean it up.
Reasons for the Fall
The main thing you should know when it comes to coverage for trees is that the reason for the fall is the primary determining factor. While some plans will cover tree falls, most only cover if the fall results from specific scenarios. Every plan is a bit different and will cover slightly different things, but there are some events that most plans do or don’t cover.
Covered and Not Covered
Most plans use similar rules to determine what qualifies for coverage and what doesn’t, though it changes between plans and companies. Here’s what qualifies for coverage in most cases:
- Wind and hailstorms
- Weight of ice/snow
- Lightning
Here’s what most plans don’t cover:
- Floods and earthquakes
- Dead or rotted trees
- Poor maintenance
However, these are all subject to change depending on your plan and company, though most storm-damage tree removal could qualify for coverage.
Preventative Measures
One of the main things you should remember is that any care that could be a part of preventative maintenance likely isn’t something your plan will cover. For example, many plans will make you pay out of pocket to remove a tree that isn’t healthy and may cause issues later.
Where It Falls
While these things will help you understand if the cause of the falling tree qualifies for coverage, you should know that the location where the tree falls also matters. A tree that falls out of the way of your home house usually doesn’t qualify for insurance coverage. Only if the tree falls on your home, a building, or the driveway will it qualify for coverage as an emergency tree service with most standard plans.
This should help you know if your tree removal will fit your budget and what you should expect to pay. It’s important to note that removing a potentially dangerous tree before it falls is always better than the alternative. Otherwise, it may cause injury to people and damage nearby property, costing more than the initial removal would cost.
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