Does Home Insurance Cover Tree Damage?

vonsworld

Hello

I have a couple of large 30ft Cherry Trees on the edge of my property next to the footpath. I keep these in good condition.

However if in a storm a branch came down and caused damage or hit someone walking past, would normal house insurance cover this eventuality?

Obviously it might mention this in my policy if I request a copy, but I wondered if it was usually part of standard cover?

Thanks

MorningcoffeeIV

It'll depend on your policy. There are too many budget variations to know which you have.  Read the terms and it will clarify the issue.

DullGreyGuy

vonsworld said:

I have a couple of large 30ft Cherry Trees on the edge of my property next to the footpath. I keep these in good condition.

However if in a storm a branch came down and caused damage or hit someone walking past, would normal house insurance cover this eventuality?

Obviously it might mention this in my policy if I request a copy, but I wondered if it was usually part of standard cover?

Normal Building's insurance covers third party liability as the owner of the property, normal Contents insurance covers third party liability as the occupier of the property. 

If your tree therefore does damage to others and you are deemed liable then the insurance will respond and cover the claim. Just because you own something however doesnt automatically mean your at fault for the damage it causes. The classic one you see all the time is slates/tiles coming off a roof in a storm and damaging a neighbours car. For there to be liability the neighbour would have to prove that the roof was in a state of disrepair beforehand and that you'd had ample time to address it. Similarly with a tree they'd need to show it was obviously rotten and you'd ignored it. Most of these get deemed "an act of god" which most likely will be covered by the neighbour's own policy but no claim on yours.

If your tree comes down and does damage to your own possessions then it'll very much come down to the terms of your policies... for example if it damaged your car then that would be an accidental damage claim on your car insurance and no claim on your home insurance.