Martha Teeg remembers the sound her neighbor’s giant tree made when it fell in her backyard. The massive oak crushed her garden shed, knocked the power out and destroyed a fence, “It’s a terrible mess,” said Teeg.
Teeg isn’t sure how big the tree is but most of it ended up in her backyard, “I certainly didn’t expect it to come down in my yard,” said Teeg.
After getting the power pole replaced and the power back on, the priority became getting the tree out of her yard. Teeg reached out to the neighbor but they didn’t want to do anything anytime soon, “I didn’t want to leave the mess I had,” said Teeg.
After once again checking with the neighbor, Teeg decided to have a tree removal company come out and haul away the tree and the debris from the damaged shed. The cost to clean up the mess wasn’t cheap, Teeg paid about $1,000.
Along with calling the tree removal company Teeg reached out to our Call for Action Team to see if she is responsible for the cleanup cost, “I’d like to say no (I’m not responsible), said Teeg.
We reached out to insurance agent Christopher Cook to find out who is responsible, “This is an act nature, no one is negligent, the wind blew tree over, no one to blame or point the finger at,” said Cook.
So even though the tree was not on her property until it fell Teeg is responsible to clean up the mess on her property, “That is the part I guess young people call adulting, having funds set aside for things like this,” said Cook.
What many homeowners may not know is that several insurance policies will cover the cost of cleaning up after a tree falls in the yard. Homeowners can ask their insurance agents how that works but, in most policies,, it is a simple endorsement that will cost an extra $20 to $40 a year.
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