A tree fell on your house: first steps and who pays

What should you do in the first few minutes?

Get people out of the rooms under the tree. A trunk on the roof can keep settling, and a ceiling that held for the first minute may not hold for the tenth. If walls have cracked, doors stick, or the roofline sags, leave the house. CDC says not to go inside a home with obvious damage, like downed power lines, downed trees, or cracks in the walls or foundation, until a professional has inspected it.

Look before you walk around the outside. Trees take lines down with them. ESFI says to assume every downed line is live and that the ground around it can be energized up to 35 feet away, farther when wet. Do not touch the tree or anything else in contact with the line. Call 911.

Smell gas? The Florida Division of Emergency Management says a rotten egg or sulfur odor can mean a damaged gas line. Move to safety, call 911, then call the gas company’s emergency line. Do not flip switches or use a phone inside. Our storm emergency page covers the full first 48 hours.

Who do you call, and in what order?

The NAIC says most insurers have deadlines for reporting claims, so call early even if you cannot assess the damage yet. Ask whether the insurer wants its own inspection before the tree is removed. For the rest of the process, see our guide to storm damage claims.

Does homeowners insurance cover a tree that falls on your house?

Generally yes. Triple-I says that if a tree hits your home or another insured structure, such as a detached garage, a standard homeowners policy covers damage to the structure and to the contents. That holds for trees felled by wind, lightning or hail.

Removal is a separate, smaller number. Triple-I says that when a tree hits an insured structure, the policy also covers removing it, generally up to about $500 to $1,000 depending on the insurer and policy. The ISO HO-3 sample form, the base for many policies, pays up to $1,000 per loss to remove your trees felled by windstorm, hail or the weight of ice, snow or sleet, or a neighbor’s tree felled by an insured peril, provided the tree damages a covered structure. No more than $500 goes to any one tree. The form calls this additional insurance, so it does not eat into your dwelling limit.

Your hurricane deductible still applies if a hurricane did the damage. These are general rules. Read your declarations page, and ask your insurer, the state insurance department, a licensed public adjuster or an attorney about your own claim.

Which policy responds in each situation?

The pattern: the policy that pays is the one on the damaged property, and the removal limit is small, so a big tree can cost more to remove than the policy pays. After a declared disaster, your county may collect the cut-up tree from the curb free; see our guide to storm debris removal.

Who pays when it is the neighbor’s tree?

Your own insurer, in nearly every case. Triple-I says you are insured no matter who owns the tree, and that after a windstorm insurers usually do not spend time working out where a tree came from. You file with your own company, pay your deductible, and your policy covers the damage.

Fault comes in only through subrogation. Triple-I explains that if the fallen tree stood on a neighbor’s property, your insurer may try to collect from the neighbor’s insurer, and if it succeeds you may get your deductible back. The reverse is true too. Triple-I’s hurricane FAQ says that if your tree falls on the neighbor’s home, their insurer pays them, and if your tree was poorly maintained or diseased, their insurer may seek reimbursement from you.

So do not argue with the neighbor on the day of the storm. Photograph the tree where it lies, including the stump, and let the insurers sort out fault.

How do you document the damage?

Document before anything moves. The NAIC says to photograph or video all losses and make a list before removing debris or belongings, and to save damaged items for the insurer to inspect when possible. The Florida DFS guide adds that you should not dispose of destroyed property until the field adjuster has inspected it.

Take these shots: the whole tree from several angles; the stump or trunk base, which shows whether it was rotten or healthy; the roof, walls and windows it hit; every damaged room; any water coming in; and the tarp once it is on. Keep the tree service invoice, tarping receipts, and hotel receipts. Our guide to documenting your claim has the full list.

Should you tarp the roof once the tree is off?

Yes, if it can be done safely. The HO-3 sample form requires you to protect the property from further damage, make reasonable and necessary repairs, and keep an accurate record of the expense. Triple-I says not to wait for the adjuster, because most insurers reimburse reasonable temporary repairs up to a set amount. The Florida DFS guide uses this exact situation as its example: plywood, a tarp and duct tape over a hole from a tree limb.

The tree comes off first, by a crew with rigging if it is large. Then a roofer or a capable homeowner covers the opening. Never climb a roof that still has a tree on it, and never tarp in rain or wind. After a declared disaster, Operation Blue Roof may install a free cover, but the Corps of Engineers says the roof must be cleared of debris first and no more than 50 percent of the framing can be damaged. Our emergency roof tarping guide covers the method, ladder rules, Blue Roof sign-up and costs.

What if the tree was dead or neglected?

This is where fault can matter, and it is a question for an attorney, not a claims adjuster. Triple-I says that if a fallen tree was poorly maintained or diseased and the owner took no steps to care for it, the damaged party’s insurer may seek reimbursement from the owner.

In Florida, UF/IFAS Extension’s handbook on trees and landowner responsibility explains the general rule from the Gallo v. Heller line of cases: a possessor of land is not liable to people outside the land for a nuisance resulting from trees, and a neighbor may trim encroaching branches and roots back to the property line at their own expense. The handbook also notes that a dead tree’s failure is foreseeable, especially in a storm, which can create a common law duty to remove it, possibly extending to live trees with a high risk of failure. Florida case law has not squarely addressed the point.

Photograph the tree’s condition, keep any messages you sent the neighbor before the storm, and ask a lawyer whether a claim makes sense. Do not hold up your own claim while you wait.

What does tree removal cost after a storm?

Prices climb after a hurricane because every crew is booked. HomeAdvisor’s June 2026 figures put tree removal at $200 to $2,000, with an average of $750, rising with height from about $150 to $450 for trees up to 30 feet to $1,000 to $2,000 for trees over 80 feet.

A tree already on the ground is cheaper to cut up. HomeAdvisor says to expect $75 to $150 plus hauling for a simple fallen tree. A tree on a house is the opposite case. HomeAdvisor says trees near structures or power lines need special equipment and precautions, that emergency removal can run as high as $5,000, and that removing large trees near power lines can cost upward of $10,000.

Get the estimate in writing and ask whether it includes hauling and the stump. If the policy’s removal limit is $1,000 and the crew quotes $4,000, you pay the gap. The FTC says to hire only licensed, insured contractors and never pay in cash.

Florida: trees, contractors and your claim

Florida law shapes three parts of this. First, the roofing contract. Under Florida Statutes 489.147, a contractor may not offer a rebate, gift, cash or a deductible waiver to get a roof inspection or a roof claim, may not interpret your policy or adjust your claim unless also licensed as a public adjuster, and must give you a good-faith itemized estimate. A roof contract signed within 180 days of a Governor’s emergency declaration can be cancelled without penalty within 10 days of signing or by the official start date, whichever comes first.

Second, assignment of benefits. The Florida DFS guide says AOB agreements are prohibited for property insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023, so a tree crew or roofer cannot take over your claim.

Third, gas. Florida DEM says only qualified gas company staff or emergency personnel should turn the main valve, and that the meter area should be kept clear of debris so cleanup equipment does not hit it.

The Florida DFS Insurance Consumer Helpline is 1-877-693-5236, and DFS says not to sign anything before calling it. For door-to-door pressure tactics, see storm chaser scams.

What comes next?

Once the tree is gone and the roof is covered, the job turns into a water damage job. Rain that came through the opening soaks insulation, drywall and framing, and wet materials left more than a day or two can grow mold. Dry the inside fast, keep photographing, and push the claim forward with written estimates in hand. If a hurricane did the damage, our hurricane damage guide explains how wind and flood policies split the loss. If the power is out, read our generator safety rules before starting one, and keep it outside. More storm guides are on the storm hub.