The situation regarding liability and fallen trees is not as clear cut as you might expect.
The starting point is to consider the ownership of the trees. A tree belongs to the legal owner of the property upon which the tree trunk originally grows. A fallen tree will still belong to the original owner of the tree, even if those trees have now fallen onto neighbouring land as highlighted in a case called Mills v Brooker (1919).
Common Law Duty of Care
Tree owners have a common law duty of care to their neighbours in relation to any hazards occurring on their land, whether those hazards are natural or man-made.
Trees on land can therefore be deemed a hazard. The standard of this duty of care is that the tree owner should do what is reasonable to expect of him in his individual circumstances.
At residential properties, the law requires those tree owners to be aware of obvious defects (e.g. large splits, cracks and/or external decay on the trees) rather than detailed technical defects.
If the tree owner at a residential property spots an obvious defect, or he knows that the tree is damaged or decayed, for example, then it is their duty to seek confirmation on steps that should be taken to safeguard people and nearby properties from damage. This could be consulting a tree surgeon.
If the tree owner at a residential property is aware of an obvious defect on the tree and knows that particular trees are damaged or decayed and does nothing about it, this could cause serious issues for the tree owner in the event that the trees fall.
‘Acts of God’
You may have heard of the term ‘Acts of God’. Acts of God are events such as storms, like Storm Arwen, or strong winds. However, just because an Act of God has occurred, and trees have fallen does not mean that the legal owner of the trees avoid liability for costs of removing and repairing any damage caused.
Who bears liability is a matter of fact and degree and does depend on individual circumstances, particularly the health of the trees which have fallen.
Nobody would be held responsible for damage caused by Storm Arwen if the storm caused perfectly healthy trees to fall. In this situation, it would be for yourselves and your neighbour to come to an arrangement to get the trees cleared and/or repair any damage caused.
The exception to this in principle is if your neighbour, as the owner of the trees, knew or should have known that the trees were rotting, diseased or decaying. In these circumstances, your neighbour could be considered negligent for not removing the trees despite obvious risks posed, even if the trees fell during Storm Arwen.
In addition, you could potentially argue that the trees which have fallen on your land constitute a private nuisance and as such, your neighbour as legal owner, should be liable to remove the nuisance caused by the presence of the trees.
Home Insurance
You may consider consulting your home insurance policy if neighbouring trees have caused damage to your property and/or outbuildings etc.
It is important to note that the majority of home insurance policies only provide cover for damage caused by the tree rather than the tree itself. However, each insurance policy can differ therefore it is important to check individual insurance policies to see exactly what you are covered for.
How to prevent something similar happening again
In terms of mitigating future events whereby neighbouring trees could fall and damage your property again, unfortunately there is little you can do.
It may be wise to inspect the trees on your neighbour’s property, as best you can without trespassing, to check for any damaged or decayed trees. If you can spot any damaged or decayed trees then it could be a matter of writing to your neighbour highlighting your concerns and asking whether he would consider removing the trees to prevent any harm and/or damage in the future.
Unfortunately, you cannot force your neighbour to cut down their trees but highlighting any damaged or decayed trees to them could stand you in better stead if further trees fell on your land in the future.
This goes back to the point raised above. If your neighbour was aware of damaged or decayed trees on his property and did nothing about it, if any harm and/or damage was caused in the future to your property he could potentially be sued for negligence.
In the alternative, if the trees on your neighbour’s property are considered healthy then unfortunately there would be nothing you can do.
If you would like to speak to someone about issues raised in this article, then please call 01642 356500/0191 2322574 and ask to speak to someone in our Dispute Resolution Department.
