Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Tree falls, damages neighbors car
A tree in my front yard was blown over by the wind. Some of the upper branches landed on my neighbor's car and did some damage. The car was parked in the street. I knew the tree was old and reaching the end of it life. It had some dead branches, but also many green ones. Once it fell, the roots appeared rotted away, but this wasn't obvious beforehand. Am I liable for damage to my neighbor's car? Should my homeowner's insurance cover any liability I might have?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Tree falls, damages neighbors car
Homeowner's insurance should cover you, and your first step should be to notify your agent. There is a high probability you are liable to the neighbor, and your insurance should cover it.
There are two outside possibilities under which you would not be liable. If you were way out in the country - farm or forest country - where there were many trees growing naturally, you would have a reduced duty to inspect and prune or remove weakened trees. The other is that I have seen a few cases based on the Streets and Highways Code interpreting some section of that code giving the highway authorities rights and duties regarding removal of line or right-of-way trees along a public street or road, and that could apply (it does in front of my house in rural Marin County).
Windstorms are forseeable, and the result (falling trees) can't be written off as a mere accident or act of God.
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