My family has been in this home since 1946, with my mom’s passing, I’m now the owner. Our neighbors moved in about 5-6 years ago. We have 3 sycamore trees on our property that line our fence. They’ve tried everything possible to get us to remove the trees since they moved in.
The trees were planted in 1950 by the city and we have an arborist come out every couple of years for a health check.
We’ve dug in our heels that the trees are gonna stay, but they’re welcome to cut any branches that hang over their roof by a licensed and bonded contractor at their expense.
So TODAY they came up with a new good one.
They’re telling us THEIR homeowners policy will be cancelled if we don’t get rid of our trees.
Not on their property. They’re on our property.
Our insurance agent has no issues with our trees.
I’m in California, not in a fire zone.
Is this a thing?
Neighbors trying to get us to remove our trees.
byu/StardustSue inInsurance
Posted by StardustSue
5 Comments
Are the branches near their house/building?
> They’re telling us THEIR homeowners policy will be cancelled if we don’t get rid of our trees…. Is this a thing?
Even if it is a thing, it’s not your problem.
On the flip side, if any of the trees are even slightly rotted or problematic now is your chance to get somebody else to pay to have them cut down.
No opinion about whether or not you should remove the tree or limbs but yes, insurers can and will non-renew a policy due to tree limbs that overhang a house due to the risk of them falling & damaging the house.
i would remind them that they may have branches overhanging cut, they cannot cut back to severely that they damage the trees, or you can sue them for the value. you have no control over who they hire to trim the trees.
It sounds like they are making this up. If it was true, they would show you the letter from the insurance company, which they didn’t because there is none. And even if it’s true, not your problem. The only issue is if they do have someone come out to cut the branches on their side, they might have it done in such a way that it damages the trees. Id require a licensed arborist do it, not just any random contractor who has 0 clue how to trim trees properly.