Are Falling Trees and Landscaping Damage Covered by Home Insurance?

As we know, home insurance is very important to us and our home in case something terrible happens. We will never know when an accident may occur or when a disaster may strike. However, we may sometimes not know what areas are covered by our home insurance, and if other limitations apply. During a storm, it is unavoidable that there will be falling trees in our backyard, or even damage in our landscape. The question is, is your home covered by your insurance for such cases?

First of all, it does not matter whose tree it was that fell on your house or backyard. You home insurance should cover for the damage. However, if your tree falls on your neighbor’s house, then their insurance should be the one that should cover for the damages. To put simply, YES, your home insurance policy should cover the damages if a tree falls on it. Furthermore, your home insurance policy also covers expenses for the removal of the tree. Usually, it would cost around $500 for the removal of the tree, but fortunately, you would have home insurance to thank for that.

With regards to landscaping however, it is usually covered by your homeowner’s insurance if its damage is the effect of a hurricane or fire. Regrettably, bad soil, insects, over watering, and over planting are not something that your home insurance would protect. Imagine your home insurance as a plan for major dangers which consist of everything from your property line in. A swimming pool in some cases may perhaps be considered a landscaping and certainly if the situations are right, it too would be covered under your home insurance plan. In the same way that your insurance for landscaping is not covered by bad soil, insects or over watering, your home is not protected by incidents such as a dog destroying a door or pests destroying your landscape. However, if in case you might by now have considerable landscaping damage that is not protected by your home insurance plan, there are other alternatives that may perhaps help you get back some of the loss. When it is time to report taxes, you could apply for a loss on your federal income tax.

It is your obligation to look after your home. The insurance policy simply covers damage, and not the possible damage. Same as true if one of your trees is hanging over someone else’s home, no coverage will be granted for its possible damage.   If however, you take no notice of the circumstances, and the tree later falls and causes harm to the neighbor’s home, their insurance will deal with their damages. They might, however, demand to get back their money either from your insurance company, or from you. This is considered as subrogation.

So remember, that if ever a tree falls on your house or causes damage to your landscaping, you could always count on your home insurance to help recover from damages that you might receive. You have to protect the value of your home since this is the place where you and your family live.