Expert: Bennie 719 - 7/28/2009

Question
Hi,   I work for the county of Orange in Va.   While at work a large branch from a Coffeewood tree broke off and hit my car, causing damage. Scratches etc.   County say's they won't pay it was an act of God.   Yesterday they wanted me to give them my registration number, Ins. name and an estimate.   They again said they were not going to pay. Are they responsible for the damage, and why do they need all this info if they wont pay.     I have a 500. deductible on my car but don't want to go through my Ins.
   This  branch did not come down in a storm it was weighted down from the clusters of nuts that were on it.    Tree is still up and another branch fell again the other day while I was at work.
Thanks

Answer
Hi Jody,
Normally, the tree owner is not liable unless the owner can be shown to have been negligent.
This usually means that a limb or tree was dead or diseased and the owner had been notified of such a hazard, or the owner already new of the hazard or the hazard was in such a highly
visible location he would able to see it.

I know that fruit tree limbs frequently break due to the heavy load, but they are not normally planted in an area where you would park.

If the nut bearing tree is in a highly visible are where the county should have known of the risk involved, they may be responsible for failing to provide proper maintenance to the tree.

It sounds like they are gathering information from you in preparation to make a payment.

If they fail to pay, you should make a report to your insurance company.  They will pay the full cost of repairing your car (less your deductible) and then investigate the circumstances of the
fallen limb and if they feel that there was negligence on the part of the county, they will file a subrogation claim to recover their costs and your deductible.

I suggest that you take some photos of the tree in case the county decides to prune it before anyone can investigate.

I hope that you find this helpful.  Your feed back by rating my response will be appreciated.

Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area