Roof Claim Answers

Whose insurance covers tree damage, yours or your neighbor's?

Short answer. Your own homeowners insurance covers damage to your property, no matter whose tree fell on it. The neighbor's insurance pays only if the neighbor was negligent, typically because the tree was visibly dead or decayed and they knew or should have known it was a hazard. If your healthy tree falls on a neighbor's house in a storm, their insurer handles it.

Act of nature versus negligence

A healthy tree that falls in a storm is treated as an act of nature: no one is at fault, and each owner's insurer pays for damage to its own policyholder's property. Responsibility shifts when the tree's owner ignored a hazard, such as a dead trunk, large dead limbs, visible decay or a worsening lean. Under Georgia law, a tree owner is generally liable only if they knew or reasonably should have known about the defect.

How it works in practice

  1. File with your own insurer and pay your deductible.
  2. If the tree was obviously dead and the neighbor had been told, tell your adjuster. Your insurer may pursue the neighbor's insurer, a process called subrogation, and you may get your deductible back if it succeeds.
  3. If you were uninsured, you would have to pursue the neighbor directly, which requires proof of negligence.

Proving notice

A written message to the neighbor about a dead tree, photos showing its condition, or an arborist's report creates evidence that the danger was known. Keep copies.

Trees on the property line

A tree whose trunk straddles the line may be jointly owned. Storm damage still goes to each owner's own insurer.

Removal and repair

Each insurer generally pays to remove the part of the tree on its own policyholder's property, within debris removal limits. See emergency protection for the steps before removal and wind damage roof claims for the roof itself.

In depth

How do I choose the date of loss for a roof claim, and what if two storms hit close together?How to pick and verify the date of loss for a roof claim with weather records, what to do when two storms hit What does my insurance policy require me to do to protect my roof after storm damage?Your duty to mitigate after roof storm damage: reasonable emergency repairs, tarping basics, receipts and photWhat counts as wind damage on a shingle roof, and how do I document it for a claim?How wind damages shingles: creases, broken seals, lifted and missing tabs, ridge caps, what wind speeds in rep

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