If a tree falls...

[bambi275]

Lying awake & listening to the wind & thinking there's a forty foot tree outside my front garden, if it falls then who do you call?
Emergency services? Non-emergency helpline? Utilities companies? Fire brigade? Who gets rid of trees that have fallen & who pays for it.
Not really expecting it to fall, just generally curious.

[Ceam]

Lying awake & listening to the wind & thinking there's a forty foot tree outside my front garden, if it falls then who do you call?
Emergency services? Non-emergency helpline? Utilities companies? Fire brigade? Who gets rid of trees that have fallen & who pays for it.
Not really expecting it to fall, just generally curious.

Tree surgeon, and hope it's not a rouge one. If it's on your property I guess you or your insurance is liable (hence why I don't have any trees ).

[The PNP]

Assumed it was the Council who removed fallen trees that grew in the street. If so, I wonder what they do with the timber/logs.....Do their employees get it for free, or is it sold off or even taken to landfill?

[Lamparilla]

Assumed it was the Council who removed fallen trees that grew in the street. If so, I wonder what they do with the timber/logs.....Do their employees get it for free, or is it sold off or even taken to landfill?

They usually shred it into chippings on the site where the tree fell, and use it for mulch elsewhere.

[The PNP]

They usually shred it into chippings on the site where the tree fell, and use it for mulch elsewhere.

Yes, I've seen it done with twigs and smaller branches. But surely that doesn't happen to the treetrunks too? It must be an amazingly strong machine!

[bambi275]

Tree surgeon, and hope it's not a rouge one. If it's on your property I guess you or your insurance is liable (hence why I don't have any trees ).

Just wondered if you had to notify utilities in case it's disrupted drains, pipes etc. It's still standing at the mo though & it's on rented property next door just that big if it does come crashing down it would either hit the houses or block the road!

No trees! Couldn't live without greenery, live watching the birds - I know, sad ain't I

[bambi275]

Assumed it was the Council who removed fallen trees that grew in the street. If so, I wonder what they do with the timber/logs.....Do their employees get it for free, or is it sold off or even taken to landfill?

I've got you wondering now, lol!

[Coastal99]

If your tree falls on someone else's property and does damage it is their, not yours, responsibility to clear it up and make good any damage.

Sounds strange but I had this with an Insurance company several years ago. I presumed it worked like car insurance: if a car knocks your wall down then their insurance pays up. But house insurance works differently.

So if you haven't got building insurance and someone else's tree causes damage to your property you end up paying.

You could try to sue the other partys Insurance company - if you can find out who they are, which the other party is not obliged to tell you, but it'd be a long hard battle with an uncertain outcome.

[Lamparilla]

Yes, I've seen it done with twigs and smaller branches. But surely that doesn't happen to the treetrunks too? It must be an amazingly strong machine!

I saw them doing one on Westcliffe Road last week. It was a very big, very old tree. They cut the trunk into large chunks and then cut them lengthwise into smaller pieces and feed them into the woodchipper.

So the machine doesn't have to be huge if they prepare the timber first.

[The PNP]

I saw them doing one on Westcliffe Road last week. It was a very big, very old tree. They cut the trunk into large chunks and then cut them lengthwise into smaller pieces and feed them into the woodchipper.

So the machine doesn't have to be huge if they prepare the timber first.

What a lot of trouble to go to, when they could get good money for the trunk if sold as logs. Whilst woodchippings seem like a 'green' product, surely chippings will cause the release of potent greenhouse gases such as methane when they rot down....Which then begs the question, do woodlice fart ?

[Lamparilla]

What a lot of trouble to go to, when they could get good money for the trunk if sold as logs. Whilst woodchippings seem like a 'green' product, surely chippings will cause the release of potent greenhouse gases such as methane when they rot down....Which then begs the question, do woodlice fart ?

These guys were pretty quick, and I would guess they know what price they can get for the wood, whether it's as logs or chippings. I would guess that the cost of carting large chunks of tree trunk comes into it as well.

[Alikado]

Just wondered if you had to notify utilities in case it's disrupted drains, pipes etc. It's still standing at the mo though & it's on rented property next door just that big if it does come crashing down it would either hit the houses or block the road!

No trees! Couldn't live without greenery, live watching the birds - I know, sad ain't I

Have you made your Insurance Company aware that there is a tree within falling distance of your property, if not declared - no payout.

[bambi275]

Have you made your Insurance Company aware that there is a tree within falling distance of your property, if not declared - no payout.

Thanks for the tip but it's not my home, it's rented, so the HA have buildings insurance on it as it's their property.

[Snig's foot]

I would call the Council. They have a list of EVERY reasonably large tree in Sefton (with a number), including the ones in your back garden!

[said]

If your tree falls on someone else's property and does damage it is their, not yours, responsibility to clear it up and make good any damage.

Sounds strange but I had this with an Insurance company several years ago. I presumed it worked like car insurance: if a car knocks your wall down then their insurance pays up. But house insurance works differently.

So if you haven't got building insurance and someone else's tree causes damage to your property you end up paying.

You could try to sue the other partys Insurance company - if you can find out who they are, which the other party is not obliged to tell you, but it'd be a long hard battle with an uncertain outcome.

No - that is wrong! When you first buy your property you will need to take note if there are any trees nearby or on the property - for at some point these may cause problems. Anyone who does have trees in their garden has responsibility for them. If those trees become diseased or weak, then the person whose garden they are in needs to have the trees sorted by treatment or by removal. If your tree falls into a neighbour's garden and does damage - YOU are responsible. If your neighbour can prove negligence on your part - i.e by finding diseased or rotted parts on the tree - you can be sued for all the damage. You are also responsible for calling in professional tree surgeons to get shot of it. If it is a tree that has fallen from the street - it is the council's responsibility to make good any damage done and remove the tree. Trees must be removed by professional tree surgeons because it involves high powered circular saws to be used on wet tree trunks and it is a particularly dangerous exercise.
When a neighbours tree fell onto my property - it had affected two neighbouring properties. A shed and fences were broken by the falling tree. We each chipped in to repair the damage to our own properties, so that the owner of the tree just had to pay to get the tree removed. It was no big deal and there was no ill feeling about it.
There is a massive fir tree in little Shakespeare Street that appears to lean a few centimetres every year, it is at least 60ft tall. It has already uplifted the paving and the property wall. I would not like to live across the road from it, that is for sure, unless I had very good insurance.
Having said that - I would not live in an area where there is just ugly concrete - the risks are rare.