Does Home Insurance Cover a Tree Falling on Your House

Across Australia, our magnificent flora adds an undeniably impressive touch to the landscape. While plants and large trees are great for the environment, there can be some practical downsides to them, particularly for homeowners.

The larger the tree, the further it has to fall, and the more damage it can cause along the way. If a tree on your property falls, it can cause a fair bit of damage to your home, belongings, and anything else that comes in its path. This begs a common question among homeowners – does home insurance cover a tree falling on your house?

The answer to this isn’t as straightforward as a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Here, we’ll go through some of the most common scenarios, and how insurance providers might handle them, as well as general good-to-knows about insurance.

 

Common Causes of Trees Falling

There are a number of common factors that cause trees to fall, and the cover your insurance provides might vary depending on the cause, and the type of damage that occurs. These causes can range in extremity, with various insurance implications.

Weather Conditions

Storms and extreme weather conditions, strong winds, and lightning events are generally included in the list of ‘perils’ that many insurance policies cover. In the case of any of these, your insurance likely provides cover for damage, and also for tree or debris removal.

Neglect

If a dead or rotted tree, or loose limbs or branches fall on your home and cause damage, it’s not likely to be covered by your insurance. This is because these are considered issues that you should be aware of and address before they get bad enough to fall. As the property owner, it’s your responsibility to take measures to prevent property damage from fallen trees. This is why regular tree pruning to remove dead branches is considered essential for the Jim’s Trees crew.

Preventing Damage 

The best way to protect yourself against damage from fallen trees is to do what you can to stop it from happening in the first place.

It’s the responsibility of the property owner to take whatever measures are necessary to prevent damage from occurring. While you can’t predict the weather or do anything to stop a storm in its tracks, you can limit the risk of potential damage.

Simple tree maintenance like tree pruning removes dead or dying limbs that are more likely to fall, while emergency tree removal can take care of trees that pose an immediate threat to property.

 

Insurance Details

To ensure you have the cover you need, it’s important to understand the different types of insurance policies out there, and the details of the individual policies.

In the case of a tree falling on your home, there are a few different types of cover that could come into play.

Building insurance

This type of insurance covers the physical building, and damage it may incur in the event of a tree falling. This is solely for structural issues, and doesn’t cover any personal belongings or home furnishings.

Contents insurance

Contents insurance is what will cover your belongings and furnishings. Building insurance and contents insurance can be purchased together, often called ‘home and contents’, or can be bought individually.

If you’re renting, it is not your responsibility to have building or ‘home’ cover, but you may choose to take out a contents-only policy in case of a tree fall or other damage.

Car insurance

Let’s say a tree on your property falls, hitting your home and landing on your car, resulting in damage to both your home and vehicle. Building insurance might cover the cost of your home, but you’ll probably need to have a separate car insurance policy to cover the damage to the vehicle.

Limits and deductibles

When taking out any insurance policy, you should take care to read the details and fine print associated, paying particular attention to the cover limits and deductibles.

The limit is the maximum amount of money the policy will pay out in the event of a claim, whereas the deductible is the amount that you have to pay before the insurance pays the rest. For example, if your policy has a deductible of $200, and a repair that you need to make costs $250, your insurance will only cover $50. Lower-cost policies often have lower cover limits and higher deductibles, which is something to keep in mind as you shop around for insurance.

 

Talk to the Experts

If you’re concerned about a particular tree on your property, or just want some guidance on tree maintenance, our Jim’s Trees experts are here to help. Get in touch with Jim’s Trees today to find out more about services, and how we can help to take care of your trees.