Part of Our Tree Fell on Neighbor's Car - Who pays?

December 26, 2014 1:58 PM

On Christmas Eve, a freak wind from the north knocked a large part of one of our cedar trees over. Part of the damage involved our neighbor's car, which was parked in her driveway. I am told that her automobile insurance is the legal payer, and, since the trees were healthy (although big), we have no legal obligation to her.

This feels really shitty. Our houses are very close together and I hate the thought of her hating me. As well, I feel like since it was our tree, we have some responsibility in this. She will need to rent a car while hers is fixed.

Does anyone have any experience with this. We own our house, she rents hers, if that makes any difference. She is out of town, although aware of this. She returns tomorrow.

posted by Danf to Home & Garden (18 answers total)

This happened to my family when I was in high school, though we'd put the car in the garage. The neighbor's tree split because of high winds, half ended up in our driveway, blocking it. The neighbor was financially responsible for cleanup from the tree on our property and had to drive me to school that day since we couldn't get the car out.

I imagine his home insurance/property insurance paid for it. I know my mother absolutely didn't/wouldn't have paid for it.
posted by discopolo at 2:02 PM on December 26, 2014

This happened to me. A wind storm broke a tall tree on my property in half, knocking about the top 20 feet of it into into my neighbor's yard/driveway and leaving a splitting trunk behind on my yard. Luckily no cars were damaged. But...this is what my insurance agency said:
1. My neighbor was responsible for her own property UNLESS
2. I had known or should have known that the tree was weakened or dangerous in any way.

In our case, my neighbor and I cleaned up the mess along with help from other neighbors and we were lucky that no financial damages had occurred. BUT what might be worth noting for you: after this clean up was done, I was responsible for getting the remaining part of the tree taken down, because *now* it was clearly a danger and if any other part of it it fell on anyone or anything -- in anyone's yard -- it would be my responsibility, rather than the "act of God" which is, believe it or not, an insurance term at least in some areas.
SO if your insurance is like mine, your neighbor's insurance would pay for her car if this were a freak accident, BUT then you'd be responsible if any part of the tree in your yard is still posing a hazard of any kind.
I am not an insurance expert and YMMV.
posted by third rail at 2:06 PM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Does she have Renter's Insurance? Auto insurance full coverage? Do you have Homeowner's Insurance?

---

Whoever's insurance comes into play, they'll pay and then go after the responsible party for reimbursement.

Check with your insurance agents and/or a few free phone consults with lawyers who handle accidents and such.

You and your neighbor may decide not to file claims and handle things directly with each other. I don't recommend that.

You can make a friendly gesture once the legalities are settled. Usually the insurance companies negotiate liability with each other.

If she has a deductible and your insurance doesn't compensate her, you could be a nice person down the road and gift her the money.

In general though, you need to let the professionals handle this. Doing anything else might open you up to liability you don't want.
posted by jbenben at 2:07 PM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Her auto insurance should pay for it. However, if there is a deductible amount you could chip in on that. This would make you feel better about the incident, and would smooth over potential hard feelings.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:08 PM on December 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

Also, neither of you wants to do anything that voids your respective insurance policies.

She's looking at compensation for Loss of Use during repairs, Diminished Value, depending on the age of the car, it may be totaled.


I've used lawyers for a few accidents and never regretted it. Your insurance agent may only tell you what protects their company, ditto hers.

You both may want to get free phone consults from lawyers in your jurisdiction. Not because you want to sue each other!!

Get the consults so that your insurance companies don't pull shenanigans and harm your neighborly relationship with each other.

I'm totally serious. Both of you calling lawyers and double checking on your insurance companies is the friendliest thing you can do for each other.
posted by jbenben at 2:13 PM on December 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

I used to rent a house where a storm cracked off a big limb that took out a chunk of my neighbors' fence: as a renter I wasn't responsible for paying for the repairs, but my landlord was. I'd suggest rechecking: your tree, your homeowner's insurance is responsible would be my bet.
posted by easily confused at 2:14 PM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

If this happened to me, I'd call my homeowner's insurance agent. What else is there to do?
posted by humboldt32 at 2:17 PM on December 26, 2014

Response by poster: Several insurance-types have given me the same info. Her automobile comprehensive is on the hook, especially since I had these trees evaluated last Spring and was (verbally) given the thumbs-up sign.
posted by Danf at 2:20 PM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

If the trees were healthy, it's an Act of God, and you're not responsible.

I had to eat it when a tree branch crashed through my car at work. I paid $500 deductible and insurance picked up the rest.

When my neighbor's tree crashed into our backyard, they had to pay for everything because the trees were dead and in fact, he had to pay to have the other tree in his yard cut down too.

There are a lot of trees in Atlanta and they can get to be over 40 feet.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:30 PM on December 26, 2014

unless your tree was diseased or you were negligent in its care (not typical) then it is your neighbor's responsibilty to fix his/her own car. It is covered under her/his comprehensive coverage (and will not raise his/her rates). If she/he does not have comprehensive coverage- then he/she will bear the cost of repairs and removal on her own
posted by prk60091 at 2:39 PM on December 26, 2014

Best answer: You are not the bad guy here.

This is the result of weather, better known in the insurance world as an "act of God" though what She has to do with it I've never understood.

Your neighbor will contact her landlord, and her rental insurance agent and her car insurance agent. You have contacted your homeowner's insurance agent.

Things will work out. Unless your neighbor is totally irrational, she is not going to think that you pushed the tree onto her car ... that would be impossible, right?

If you both need to lawyer up, well ... cross that bridge at the right time.

You did nothing wrong. Take photos and arrange to have the remaining stump removed so that it doesn't become a danger to someone in your yard. Don't let this ruin whatever holiday you are celebrating. This is not your fault.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 2:44 PM on December 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

My neighbor's dying tree fell into my pool. They knew it was dying but their insurance company refused to cover it saying it went down due to a storm (bs).

My neighbor then proceeded to say that he would only pay for half the costs of repairs or I could sue to see if I can win so insurance would cover all of it. But if I lost, he would not pay anything.

Don't be this neighbor. Pay the neighbor's out of pocket costs if you can or at least split them.
posted by murrey at 3:17 PM on December 26, 2014

@ murrey But here's the difference. Your sh*tty neighbor knew his trees were compromised and were a danger to all his surrounding neighbors (and anybody passing by). That's not the case here, the trees were in good condition and this tree was brought down by a storm.

I'm sorry your neighbor was such a dick. Hopefully karma will kick his arse, and you'll have a safe, ringside seat. But ... this is apples and oranges, yes?
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 6:06 PM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

I believe each county/state has laws about who is responsible for when a tree falls on someone else's property. If it's the tree owner's responsibility, then it might be your home insurance paying her instead of her car insurance paying for the car. Can you find out the law in your area?
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 6:19 PM on December 26, 2014

This happened to me. I was a renter at the time, and the tree belonged to the landlord. It crushed my almost-brand-new car. The landlord paid only to physically remove the tree; all the damage to my car was covered by my insurance.

I don't think there is an ethical obligation to pay for any damage to the car—that's just bad luck on her part for having been parked there at the time; I do think that there is some obligation to remove the tree regardless of where it fell. It might be legally defensible to leave the portion of the tree that's lying on her side of the property line, but I think it would be pretty churlish to do it. But I'd make clear (maybe via email) that the tree removal is all you're paying for.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:43 PM on December 26, 2014

Contact your insurance company, encourage your neighbor to work it out... let the insurance people work it out, that's what you both pay premiums for.

When my neighbor's tree fell on my pole barn (USA, Michigan) , resulting in about $2,000 in damages, MY insurance paid the cost. My agent stated that, had I informed the neighbor prior to the event that the tree was dead and likely to fall on my building, the neighbor might have been responsible. But, since this didn't happen, my insurance company paid, I paid the deductable.

You are not responsible for any cost in this situation.

Note, I did, after that event, send my neighbor a letter pointing out three or more trees on his side of the property line that were dead and could fall on my barn, house, or cars......
posted by HuronBob at 3:55 AM on December 27, 2014

The answer can vary by state. The usual answer is that her auto insurance would be primarily responsible (if there was no knowledge by you, as noted) BUT not everyone has auto insurance and, in some states, the coverage called "comprehensive" is optional even though liability insurance is mandatory.
posted by yclipse at 4:16 AM on December 27, 2014

Please note that, even if your neighbor doesn't have insurance that covers this damage, it is STILL (probably) not your legal responsibility to cover the cost (either with your insurance or out of pocket).
posted by HuronBob at 7:16 AM on December 27, 2014