· Michael Blair
A storm line comes through Middle Tennessee, a large tree from next door lands on your roof, and the first question everyone asks is whose insurance pays. The answer is usually yours, which surprises people, and the exception depends on what was known about the tree before it fell.
The general rule
A tree brought down by a storm is generally treated as an act of nature. Damage to your house is a claim on your own homeowner policy, under the same falling object coverage that applies to any tree, and your deductible applies.
That is not an injustice so much as how property insurance is structured: your policy covers your building against covered perils regardless of where the object came from. Your carrier may then pursue the neighbour if there are grounds, which is a matter between the insurers rather than something you have to drive.
The exception, which is about negligence
If the tree was visibly dead, diseased or hazardous, and the owner knew or reasonably should have known, the situation changes. At that point the failure is arguably negligence rather than an act of nature, and the owner and their liability coverage may be responsible.
What makes that argument work is documentation from before the tree fell. A written notice to the neighbour, a photograph of a dead crown or a split trunk, an arborist assessment. Without a record predating the storm it becomes one person recollecting against another, and carriers resolve that in favour of the act of nature.
- Photograph a hazardous neighbouring tree while it is still standing
- Put the concern in writing and keep a copy
- An arborist report carries far more weight than an opinion
- Photograph everything before any debris is moved after a fall
- Report to your own carrier promptly regardless of fault
What to do in the first hours
Safety first, and the specific hazard is power lines, which are frequently involved when a tree comes down and are treated as live until the utility says otherwise. Nothing about the tree is worth approaching a downed line for.
Then photograph comprehensively before anything is moved, including the base of the tree, because the condition of the trunk and roots is the evidence for whether it was sound. Make temporary repairs to prevent further water getting in, keep the receipts, and do not authorise a full removal until your adjuster has been told what is there.
Branches, roots and the tree that has not fallen yet
Tennessee generally follows the rule that you may trim branches and roots that cross onto your property, back to the property line, at your own cost, provided you do not damage the health of the tree. Killing a neighbour tree through careless cutting creates liability going the other way.
If a neighbour tree looks genuinely dangerous, the productive move is a written notice with an arborist opinion attached rather than a confrontation. It gives the owner a chance to act, and if it fails later the notice is what changes the insurance conversation.