GREENSBORO, N.C. — Monday morning’s storms damaged homes and took down trees across the Triad. Cecilia Cruz is the Director of Personal Lines with Alliance Insurance Services in Winston-Salem. She said phones rang off the hook all morning from homeowners asking about fallen trees on their property. She said tree damage caused by the wind is automatically covered under any standard homeowners’ policy.
“It’s covered as long as it causes damage to your property,” Cruz said. “This can be the side of your house, it can be a fence, it can be a shed that you may have. The key is it has to damage your property and or block your driveway to get in and out.”
2 Wants to Know what happens if a tree from your neighbor’s house falls on your home or vice versa. Who is responsible for the damage? Cruz said your insurance company pays for any damage to your home.
“If the wind caused the damage, no one is responsible because you didn’t tell the wind to blow and hit your neighbor’s yard,” Cruz said. “Your insurance company would take care of that damage under your policy. So, your neighbor’s tree falls on your home, you call your insurance company.”
Cruz said this also applies to any fallen objects like trampolines. A Whitsett woman sent WFMY a picture of a trampoline that flew into her yard Monday morning.
“That would fall under fallen objects,” Cruz said.
“Again, the wind picked it up and it landed on your yard. If it doesn’t cause damage to any of your property, there’s no coverage to claim. If it just lands on your yard that’s fine. You’re not responsible to replace the trampoline of your neighbor two doors down because it just flew onto your property.”
With several homeowners expected to call insurance companies about damage due to Monday’s storms, Cruz recommends taking pictures and videos of damage to help adjusters in case they can’t get to the home right away. She also said it’s a good idea to put a tarp over the damaged property to prevent further destruction.