Neighbours tree damages roof and gutter.

[cayman-black]

So as title says £750 bill and its now repaired.
Trouble being no response from neighbour regarding his insurance,does he even have and also says he has no money to cut other trees that are hanging over the house. He did come to check the damage and took pictures and advised he would email insurance details but nothing has arrived.What's PHs advice regarding course of action.?.
This is not my house but a relatives. TIA.

[ralphrj]

cayman-black said:

So as title says £750 bill and its now repaired.
Trouble being no response from neighbour regarding his insurance,does he even have and also says he has no money to cut other trees that are hanging over the house. He did come to check the damage and took pictures and advised he would email insurance details but nothing has arrived.What's PHs advice regarding course of action.?.
This is not my house but a relatives. TIA.

How did the tree damage the roof and gutter? Your relative needs to show that the damage occurred as a result of negligence by the neighbour for either the neighbour or their insurer to be liable.

[cayman-black]

Strong winds this Monday just gone.

[SteBrown91]

cayman-black said:

Strong winds this Monday just gone.

“Act of god” in the eyes of insurance

[Chrisgr31]

The neighbour is only liable if he was negligent. So if the tree was dead he would have been negligent and he'd be liable and his insurance would pay.

If there was no sign the tree or branches would come down then no negligence and no liability

[BunkMoreland]

cayman-black said:

... also says he has no money to cut other trees that are hanging over the house...

You can cut the other persons tree/hedge if its overhanging your property.

He may be telling the truth and have no money, in which case spending a couple hundred (I dunno how much an arborist costs) to remove anything that is likely to be an issue now, is cheaper than having the fight if it does happen and repairing the property.

He might even be grateful to you/relative for doing it, so maybe have a considerate chat first

[POIDH]

+1 on speak to them again.
And +1 on it will be cheaper to cut back yourself what is the issue than going through a protracted legal argument with someone you share space with.

Was this branches falling off ?

[Ardennes92]

POIDH said:

+1 on speak to them again.
And +1 on it will be cheaper to cut back yourself what is the issue than going through a protracted legal argument with someone you share space with.

Was this branches falling off ?

Need to check that no TPO’s exist and not in a conservation area as would need permission from local council.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

SteBrown91 said:

cayman-black said:

Strong winds this Monday just gone.

Act of god in the eyes of insurance

Act of god doesn't exist in UK insurance, it's an urban myth.

What does exist is lack of negligence, which could be the case here. But if you've pointed out overhanging trees, and he's failing to act on it, then any future damage could well be classed as negligence.

[cayman-black]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Act of god doesn't exist in UK insurance, it's an urban myth.

What does exist is lack of negligence, which could be the case here. But if you've pointed out overhanging trees, and he's failing to act on it, then any future damage could well be classed as negligence.

I agree Twigthe. He has now seen what can happen with the trees that are too close to the house which do need topping.Nothing to do with council as this is private land and a part of his land which he does not see very often,he has quite a lot of land.thanks for the replies.
I think my relative needs to talk with her insurance to see what they say.
Neighbour has the only photos though.

[chip*]

If these trees are tall enough to fall and damage your house. I guess these are fairly sizeable trees.
You don't say how many neighbour trees are along your house / boundary, but depending on types and number of trees, they could become a nuisance i.e. can cause subsidence to your house if they are left unmaintained. I suggest working with your neighbours to get these trees trimmed and some agreement to regular maintenance (up to you if you wish to contribute) as a preventive measure.

I faced a similar situation with my neighbour overhanging tree branches over my roof (they planted stloads of maples/ sycamores right next to the boundary) and never maintain them despite my written warning in 2017 . My house has just been decorated after 5 years of initiating my subsidence claim in 2020!!

[DaveA8]

There's so much case law and precedent on this that a quick google will make your head hurt. The reality is in all honesty that it's your relatives issue because proving the tree was a risk, proving the neighbour as a "man in the street" knew the risk or should have known the risk is a big task. The other issue is, if your relative did know the tree was a risk, how did they know and what did they do to mitigate the risk ( if they knew)

From bitter experience your neighbours insurers will not be interested and will no doubt tell them not to communicate with your relative.

[119]

Guy i knew had a large branch from one of the councils trees on the pavement come through his window one stormy night.

After much arguing, they eventually said they checked the tree for safety a few months previous and it passed and they couldn't predict the weather.

Turned to his insurance and they didn't want to know either as far as i recall.