Liability For Falling Tree

rrobbo

A tree opposite my house has fallen over, putting a small hole in my roof, damaging my garden railings and writing off my car. I immediately claimed on the car and that seems to be going OK but the railings aren't covered on my house policy. Our house is on a recent development and the tree was on a public area still owned by the developers. I thought that I would be able to claim on the developers public liability policy to try and get back the money that I'm out of pocket and started the ball rolling on this.

I've now had a call from the developer's insurer effectively saying that they don't know why I'm trying to claim as it's nothing to do with them and specifically quoting 'force majeure'. Luckily I've just found the original planning application and tree report that says that the tree was damaged and required support work, which was never carried out, which in my mind implies negligence on the part of the developer. The insurer seems to think that they can still intimidate me into dropping the claim but that won't happen.

This is more of a legal question really but who would normally be liable for a tree falling down and does it make a difference if some form of negligence can be proved? Will I likely have to initiate legal action and does anyone have any idea of what chance I'd have of winning?

melb

there's a couple of websites that you might find useful. One is gardenlaw which has a very active forum and one of the categories is trees and the other is a website called 'just claim' which also has a forum where you may be able to get some help on the legal route. I wish you luck. I went to my local CAB office to get some free advice from a local solicitor regarding a (civil) legal problem I had some time ago and found them very helpful.

thebaldwindowfitter

if as you say it says in the tree report that the tree needs support (was this done if so what) then i dont see how they can get out of this especially being so close to your house .as suggested i would also go to cab armed with your evidence

mattymoo

rrobbo - don't give up on this. If the developer owns the land, commisioned the tree report but then failed to act on it, they are up a creek without a paddle.

Have dealt with similar cases in the past where falling trees have landed on public roads, resulting in fatalities. In that case, the landowner had the tree inspected by an arboroculurulist who failed to spot rot in the tree. In that case, the claims were partly picked up by his professional indemnity insurers as well.

If you have legal expenses on your household insurance, I'd suggest you ask their appointed solicitors to take over the handling of the matter. The developers insurers are possibly trying to fob you off if you are unrepresented.