tabegle
09-03-2013, 12:33 PM
Earlier this summer, a willow tree in my yard had a huge branch fall down (rotted from the inside) and fell on the neighbor's fence (just one panel) and on their kid's trampoline.
We had had the willow tree dead-wooded about a year and a half prior, and there was no mention of the tree needing to be taken down or any mention of the rot we found 1.5 years later.
So, when the branch fell, we both called our insurance companies, and it turns out that my insurance company will only pay for the branch removal and the neighbor's insurance would take care of their fence and trampoline. Of course, separately, none of those expenses even come close to a $1000 deductible. Legally, we only need to remove our tree and that's it. There was no "neglect" of the tree. If there was, if the neighbor warned us of a issue, my insurance would have covered all of it. (minus my lovely deductible of course).
Instead of just getting the huge branch removed ($600 or $800, I don't remember) we decided to take the whole willow tree down which was $1600 or $1800. Willow trees are a soft wood and we didn't want the rest of the tree falling on our house or their house.
We offered to help make things right with the neighbors. After all, we plan on living here a long time and want to get along. :) At the time, they gave us info on the trampoline and told us they were getting prices on the fence repair. The trampoline just needed a couple of new support poles. However, for the cost of those, you could get a brand new trampoline. Since then, the poles were bent back into shape, and for a few months, I had seen their kid using the trampoline. Additionally, DH has asked on multiple occasions the cost of the fence repair with a "don't worry about it" type of response.
Fast forward to a Sentsy party the neighbor invited me to. I heard her telling her kid to stay off the trampoline. Should I have said anything? Should I have asked why? I noticed I haven't seen anyone using the trampoline lately. At the same time, have we made enough of an effort to rectify things when we thought the trampoline was fine to use well after the incident and several offers to help pay for the fence?
We had had the willow tree dead-wooded about a year and a half prior, and there was no mention of the tree needing to be taken down or any mention of the rot we found 1.5 years later.
So, when the branch fell, we both called our insurance companies, and it turns out that my insurance company will only pay for the branch removal and the neighbor's insurance would take care of their fence and trampoline. Of course, separately, none of those expenses even come close to a $1000 deductible. Legally, we only need to remove our tree and that's it. There was no "neglect" of the tree. If there was, if the neighbor warned us of a issue, my insurance would have covered all of it. (minus my lovely deductible of course).
Instead of just getting the huge branch removed ($600 or $800, I don't remember) we decided to take the whole willow tree down which was $1600 or $1800. Willow trees are a soft wood and we didn't want the rest of the tree falling on our house or their house.
We offered to help make things right with the neighbors. After all, we plan on living here a long time and want to get along. :) At the time, they gave us info on the trampoline and told us they were getting prices on the fence repair. The trampoline just needed a couple of new support poles. However, for the cost of those, you could get a brand new trampoline. Since then, the poles were bent back into shape, and for a few months, I had seen their kid using the trampoline. Additionally, DH has asked on multiple occasions the cost of the fence repair with a "don't worry about it" type of response.
Fast forward to a Sentsy party the neighbor invited me to. I heard her telling her kid to stay off the trampoline. Should I have said anything? Should I have asked why? I noticed I haven't seen anyone using the trampoline lately. At the same time, have we made enough of an effort to rectify things when we thought the trampoline was fine to use well after the incident and several offers to help pay for the fence?