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News / Business / Clark County Business

Clark Asks: If a tree falls into your home … what then?

Columbian reporter has experience with this very problem

By Sarah Wolf, Columbian staff writer
Published: January 19, 2024, 6:05am
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A remediation company covered by insurance cleaned up the mess after a tree fell on Columbian reporter Sarah Wolf&rsquo;s house in 2022.
A remediation company covered by insurance cleaned up the mess after a tree fell on Columbian reporter Sarah Wolf’s house in 2022. (Sarah Wolf/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

A Columbian reader emailed us during this week’s winter storm to ask what to do if a tree falls through your house. Fortunately — or, rather, unfortunately — I have experience with this.

Almost two years ago, a mature fir tree blew into my family’s living room, destroying our home and displacing us for more than six months.

Not all experiences are the same, however. I checked in with Kirk Bruce, owner agent at The Kirk Bruce Insurance Agency representing Farmers Insurance, to get some more tips to answer this question.

First off, make sure you and your family are safe. If not, obviously call 911. Bruce pointed out that you’ll also want to find a safe place for your family to stay if you can’t live in your home. Insurance usually covers this.

This wasn’t on Bruce’s list, but the next thing I did was panic — and rightfully so. A tree falls through not just your house but your life. It takes a while to grasp the full extent of the impact.

After a few moments of panicking, you need to pull yourself together and start doing things.

People should “protect their property from further damage the best they can,” Bruce said. That means turning off power and water, if you can access the valves.

Next, you need to make some phone calls. The first call I made was to my insurance agent, who contacted a restoration company for me; however, you could contact a restoration company on your own.

“They can get out there to assess the damage a little bit, put up some tarp or do something that will help protect from further damage or allow the person or people to stay in their home,” Bruce said.

In my case, we also called a tree-removal company, which was able to move the tree off our house the same day.

When a big storm like this week’s hits, restoration companies and tree-removal companies become very busy. Be prepared for a wait. If a storm reaches a catastrophic scale, nationwide insurance companies, such as Farmers, send staff to work on claims in that region.

Then, the remediation starts. I recall sitting in a folding chair on my front lawn — I was nine months pregnant at the time — watching men valiantly cut an enormous tree off my home and another set work late into the night stretching a tarp over my roof to keep out the spring rain.

The next day, the restoration company sent a crew to start cleaning out the inside of my home. In our case, insulation blanketed our living room. The crew removed it and cleaned all of our belongings.

By this point, hopefully you’re in a hotel and have started working through details with your insurance agent.

Through our insurance agent, we were able to find a slightly bigger hotel room with a kitchen to better accommodate our family of four. Beware: You may be there a while.

When we finally met with a couple of contractors who evaluated the damage to our house, we realized it would be close to a year before we would get to move back.

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As difficult as those first days and weeks were, the following months proved to be more frustrating.

We found our own contractor, who did a great job. But we also had to do more legwork as a liaison with our insurance company. Insurance companies also often have preferred contractors they have worked with.

We were assigned an insurance adjuster who determines what the company would pay. But we cycled through several before our claim was completed.

We were lucky to be able to meet the adjuster in person. One thing you will need to do is advocate for yourself. People often won’t understand how severe the damage is until they’ve seen it with their own eyes.

Once our adjuster and contractor came to terms on what the insurance company would pay, that’s when work really started moving on our house. Before that point, we ended up paying some of the bills out of our savings — not something I’d recommend.

As construction continues, you may run into some of the usual construction hiccups, such as permitting. But our biggest hindrance was our mortgage company.

If a claim is very big, then a check will have to be issued to all the people listed on the title, mortgage company included.

So then you have to start working with your mortgage company to go through the process for it to sign a check. Until it’s signed, you can’t cash it and pay your contractor.

For us, this required numerous inspections. Our mortgage company would send money only in increments based upon work done. When most of the work was complete, the company sent the remainder of the check.

This wasn’t something that would have been required if our claim had been smaller. But if you suspect your claim will be substantial, I’d recommend calling your mortgage company early to understand its process. That understanding could save you a big headache later.

If any expenses are paid out of pocket for something covered by your homeowners policy, the insurance company will usually reimburse you.

Most of us have a deductible that we have to reach before insurance payments kick in. But don’t be too concerned about needing to pay the deductible right away.

“A lot of times, that’s just taken out of the total amount of the loss,” Bruce said.

In our case, we paid the deductible to our contractor after the insurance company had paid its part.

Bruce encourages his clients to maintain their properties, including the roof, the exterior and other things that can suffer potential damage.

“Not everything is covered on a homeowners policy,” Bruce said.

A tree falling on your house — likely covered. But if you didn’t take care of a roof leak for years and it got worse, an insurance company may not cover that loss.

Protect your mind

After all is said and done and you’re able to move home, find a therapist.

I may have been the only one home when a tree fell through our living room, but I wasn’t the only one to suffer the emotional trauma.

One of my children spent months reluctant to go anywhere in our very small hotel room alone. The other willingly sleeps downstairs if I show the slightest sign of concern about more trees falling that night. Our whole family spent a not-insignificant amount of time fighting with each other.

Then, there’s me. I stare like a hawk at the remaining mature trees in our backyard during even the slightest breeze. Their beautiful swaying branches used to give me peace and now largely bring me fear.

Every extreme wind warning fills me with a tinge of panic. And when a forecast pushes me over the edge, I make my kids sleep in the basement.

It’s been nearly two years since a tree fell on my home. The walls and roof have all been repaired. My family is no longer sleeping in a cramped hotel room or small rental house.

If a tree falls through your home and no one is injured, know that it will be OK. Homes can be repaired.

But hearts and minds may take a bit longer to heal.

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