I could not tell if the tree was rotten

Rita Nowak

— 2 min read
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Cut ends of maple logs, one with darker wood at the centre.

Your policy pays $500 at most to haul one away.

The Walkthrough
No. 026  /  Thu, Oct 1, 2026
Subject of file
Field note: a maple limb through a garage roof, and the tree removal limit on the standard form
         

Good morning. Short one today. Eleven pieces of maple were stacked against a fence in Orchard Park when I got there, each cut to about four feet.

 
Field note   Orchard Park, September

It was one of my two or three jobs this month: a limb from a silver maple through the roof of a detached garage after a windy night. The owner called a tree crew at seven the next morning. By the time the carrier sent me, the limb was firewood and the hole had a blue tarp on it.

He showed me the crew's bill, $1,400 paid in cash, and he was proud of the stacking, which was very good. I parked the Escape behind his truck with the dented side toward the fence, a habit I have stopped explaining.

I was sent to answer whether the limb came down because of the wind or because it was already rotten. On three of the eleven pieces, the cut ends were dark in the middle. I photographed the ends and wrote down what I saw. I did not write what I thought it meant, because I am not sure I know.

On the standard form, removal of a tree felled by wind is paid up to $500 for any one tree and $1,000 for the whole loss. It applies when the tree damages a covered structure or blocks the driveway, and a detached garage is a covered structure. Check your declarations page and your own form, because carriers and states differ.

The form speaks of trees and is silent on limbs, and I have seen that silence read both ways.

What I could not get back was the morning before the crew came. Nobody had a picture of the tree standing.

 
What it actually costs

Ten minutes on a dry day, and it has to happen before anything falls. Walk around the house with your phone and take one picture from each side, with the trees, the roof line and any shed or fence in the frame. The phone keeps the date.

If you rent, take the same pictures of where your car sits and of anything of yours that stays outside.

Maryland's insurance department notes that when a neighbor's tree was dead and the neighbor knew it, your insurer may seek reimbursement from that neighbor. The condition of the tree before the storm is what everyone argues about afterward. Rules differ by state.
One number
$500
The most the standard homeowners form pays to remove any one tree felled by wind. HO-3, Debris Removal.
Where I stand today

There is a maple over my own garage. I took the four pictures last night and found a split in the trunk I had never looked at, and I have not called anyone about it.

I sent my notes in on Monday. I do not know what the carrier will decide about the dark centers, and I am not sure what I would decide in its place.

Tomorrow is Friday, so the corrections come first.

Read the policy before you need it. — Rita

Sources: ISO HO-3 homeowners form, Section I Additional Coverages, Debris Removal; Maryland Insurance Administration, consumer advisory on fallen trees. Rules differ by state.

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