TREE LIABILITY
If A Tree Falls . . .
BY ROBIN MANOUGIAN, VICE PRESIDENT, JOHN MANOUGIAN INSURANCE AGENCY, A DIVISION OF JGS INSURANCE
N
amed storms aside, seasonal
storms can pack a wallop
that can lead to not only
damaged property but also
discord among friends and
neighbors if the handling of downed trees
is not understood or done properly. This
past summer’s storms resulted in a fair
amount of damage in a number of areas
across the country, and so it should come
as no surprise that agents and carriers
were besieged with calls about downed
trees. But the financial question of whose
responsibility it is to insure the losses and
clean up the debris from uprooted trees
and limbs is always a hot, if not perplexing,
topic.
The old saying goes, “If a tree falls in a
forest and no one is around to hear it,
does it make a sound?” It does. And the
ruckus it causes is more than audible
when the tree falls onto someone’s
property, though bickering and a litany of
frustrated questions are more likely the
sound you’ll hear.
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