[TowerTalk] Tower Collapse in South Dakota

[Grant Hopper]

" I am curious whose homeowners insurance typically pays if a tree on your
neighbor's property falls on your house?"

I'll (partially) answer this as an attorney who has practiced in the area
of property (rights) law for 24 years.  In cases like this, the answer is
rather generic and leaves out nuances, exceptions, and all sorts of other
stuff:  "It depends"  :-)

"Tree Law" is very, very complicated and ever state has a slightly
different take, but the insurance side of things is very simple. You've
entered into a contract with your insurer to cover any "injury" so your
insurance will cover you to the extent of (or limitation of) your
insurance, and then they will go after the neighbor, both to the limits of
their coverage, and if that's not enough to cover your insurance company's
payout, then they go to the limits of liability of the neighbor.  That's
where the details of the rest of your question, and the variations in each
state's laws will take over.   Foreseeability, negligence, and even
something as simple as you asking the neighbor to cut the tree down a year
before the big storm, can all have a significant effect on the outcome.
Just because it's called an Act of God, doesn't mean the neighbor is off
the hook.  However, what usually determines exactly what happens is really
the cost of the claim versus the cost of the recovery.

So, who pays is highly fact based as well as state law based, as well as
based on the insurance company's attitude about recovery.

And one more thought: with municipalities increasingly regulating what
people can do with their own trees, in some cases the city will have
created liability for the home owner by making it against the law to even
trim a tree without city approval.  Here in Western Washington State, there
are several jurisdictions that have created that exact situation.  Needless
to say, insurance in those communities is more expensive.

73,
Grant Hopper
KB7WSD

On Sun, Jan 22, 2023 at 8:37 PM Michael Tope <W4EF at dellroy.com> wrote:

> On 1/22/2023 7:45 PM, Joseph B. Fitzgerald wrote:
> > Shawn N3AE wrote:
> >
> >> why are there not regulations on setback when planting trees  ... I
> know, a ridiculous thought, but still the logic makes sense to me.
> > I think the trees are considered a part of nature rather than something
> built by people.   A tree owner has no real control control over where the
> roots of their tree grow.  Under Massachusetts law, your neighbor is not
> liable if the roots of a tree on their property damage your lawn, driveway,
> foundation or whatever.  You are however allowed to cut the portion of the
> the roots from their tree that grow onto your property.
> >
> > On the other hand, a tower builder has complete control over how it is
> built, and it does not grow under the guidance of Mother Nature after it is
> installed.
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-neighbors-and-trees
> >
> > de KM1P Joe
> I am curious whose homeowners insurance typically pays if a tree on your
> neighbor's property falls on your house? Is there any difference in
> legal culpability if the tree is healthy and comes down in a 100 year
> weather event versus a tree which is diseased and rotting from the
> inside out? In the latter case, it would seem that a homeowner would
> have at least some responsibility to have a diseased tree trimmed or
> removed entirely, if it is at risk of falling on their neighbors house.
>
> BTW, I grew up in a small town where just about every home had a 50+ ft
> antenna tower for off-air television reception. I would venture that a
> majority of them didn't meet 50% setback let alone 100%. I would also
> venture that none of them required building permits. Of course they were
> all lightly loaded with VHF/UHF LPYs, except for a couple of hardcore
> CBers and the Cushcraft A3S I put on ours when I was in college. I don't
> ever remember one collapsing (if anyone's was at risk of collapse, it
> probably would have been ours, although I did make a ham-fisted effort
> to guy it with ropes).
>
> 73, Mike W4EF..............
>
>
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