Huge willow….neighbour concerns….am I liable

zenshi

I have a large old weeping willow in my garden, fairly close to a property that is a lot newer than the tree. I have it pollarded every 5 years or so and it’s due it’s next one early next year. I’ve just had a call that this year during the dry spell that cracks have appeared in said property, I’ve not seen them. Would I be liable at all given it’s my tree but I do look after it

Rdwill

I have had some cracks appear in my plaster, not the construction of the house, which I have put down to the hot weather.

Saying that, my neighbour has a moderate willow growing within feet of the corner of my house, if anything structural happens in that corner I will certainly be telling the insurance company of the presence of the willow, although I'm sure they will see for themselves and pursue the neighbour accordingly if they think the neighbours are liable. 

1. How close is the tree to your neighbours property?
2. Check out the cracks to see if they are structural, or plaster drying / shrinking (as I have)

zenshi

Rdwill said:

1. How close is the tree to your neighbours property?
2. Check out the cracks to see if they are structural, or plaster drying / shrinking (as I have)

Probably about 15/20’ from trunk to building. Will pop over and check said cracks at the weekend

Rdwill

I suppose if anything happens to their property they will claim on their insurance.

Their insurance will come and see if they can mitigate by giving the cost to someone else.

If this happens you will refer their insurer to your insurer (assuming you are insured) then the two insurance companies will argue the toss over who pays.

I'd be more worried if I wasn't insured for my tree causing that that kind of damage to my neighbour if I were you. Check what your insurance covers. Do you have any public liability included?

That is how I have thought through my 'willow' situation in my head. 

stuart45

If the tree was there first, the builders should have that into account when doing the foundations.

daveyjp

Willows generally grow where there is plenty of water, this year the ground water will be very reduced so dry land isn't to be unexpected.

What you don't want to do is see this as a problem and just have the tree removed, it removes a tree which needs gallons of water every day to survive and this water has to go somewhere else.

This increase can lead to increase in ground water level and structural heave or flooding.

zenshi

Rdwill said:

I'd be more worried if I wasn't insured for my tree causing that that kind of damage to my neighbour if I were you. Check what your insurance covers. Do you have any public liability included?

I do have legal cover. The only reference I can find on my policy regarding this is this statement which obviously I said no, as this was 6 months ago when I took out insurance. 

‘ Within the last 10 years, have any properties within 100 metres of your boundary been affected by subsidence, ground movement, tree root damage or had structural support or underpinning?’

zenshi

The tree was there long before the house. The village has many underground springs. I believe one runs close to the tree as the other end of my garden there is/was a well

And I certainly don’t want to lose the tree

FreeBear

What type of soil do you have ?

If it is predominately clay, the extended dry period we have had could well have caused the ground to shrink. When the rains come, the clay will swell up again and possibly cause further cracking - As long as the cracks are just hairline in the mortar joints, it shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Taking a thirsty mature tree out on a clay soil is asking for trouble - It will be sucking up all the water that would have caused the ground to swell.

zenshi

Yes, it’s mainly clay 

FreeBear

zenshi said:

Yes, it’s mainly clay 

More likely your neighbour is being affected by ground shrinkage & swell due to drought conditions then. Depending on how long ago this property was built, the foundations should have been dug deep enough to account for soil conditions and nearby trees. Not your problem if they were not.