Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Tree Removal After a Storm?

Homeowners insurance covers fallen trees when they damage your home or other insured structures and the cause is a covered peril like wind, lightning, hail, fire, vandalism or a vehicle crash. Your insurance pays for both repair costs and tree removal when:

• A storm knocks a tree onto your house, garage, fence or shed.
• A tree falls due to fire, explosion, lightning, aircraft, riot, vandalism, theft or a non-owned vehicle and lands on your property.
• A neighbor's tree falls onto your home or yard due to a covered event.

The tree's origin doesn't matter for coverage purposes. Whether it came from your yard, a neighbor's property or a nearby lot, your insurer pays to remove the tree as long as the event is covered and damage occurs.

Homeowners insurance won't cover tree removal if the cause isn't a covered peril or if there's no damage to an insured structure. You're not covered if:

• The tree fell due to an excluded event like a flood or earthquake (unless you have separate coverage).
• The tree came down because of age, rot or disease, which are considered maintenance issues.
• The tree didn't damage anything when it fell.

One exception exists: if the fallen tree blocks a driveway, wheelchair ramp or other access point, your insurer may cover removal even if no structures were damaged.

Filing a claim for tree removal isn’t always the smartest move. If the removal cost is lower than or close to your deductible, you’d end up paying out of pocket anyway, and filing could still count as a claim on your record. That’s why many homeowners reserve claims for larger losses, like when a tree not only needs to be removed but also damages the roof, siding or a fence.

For instance, if removal costs a few hundred dollars but your deductible is $1,000, it makes more financial sense to hire a tree service directly. On the other hand, if a storm brings down a tree that causes thousands in structural damage, filing a claim ensures the repair and removal costs are bundled together under your coverage. Weighing the cost against your deductible and potential premium impact helps you decide whether to handle it yourself or involve your insurer.

If a fallen tree damages your property, filing a claim promptly can help ensure removal and repair costs are covered.

Even if insurance covers fallen tree damage, prevention is still the safest and most cost-effective approach. Here are steps you can take to reduce the risk:

You can buy homeowners insurance from major providers like State Farm and Progressive, or from newer companies like Lemonade and Hippo. On average, homeowners insurance costs about $175 per month in the U.S., but your rate may vary based on location, coverage levels and risk factors.

To find the best deal, compare homeowners insurance quotes across multiple companies. You can also use the calculator below to estimate how much personal property coverage you might need.

Homeowners insurance covers tree removal typically only if a tree damages an insured structure or blocks critical access, and the cause is a covered peril.

To avoid unexpected costs, know your policy’s exclusions, especially for events like floods, earthquakes or fallen trees with no damage. Maintain your trees regularly, remove obvious hazards and review your policy limits to ensure you're fully protected.

Understanding how insurance handles fallen trees can be tricky. We answer common questions to help clarify what's covered and what's not.

MoneyGeek provides homeowners insurance insights based on real-world data and independent research. We rely on official rate filings from state Departments of Insurance across all 50 states, along with pricing data from Quadrant Information Services, to ensure our information is accurate, up-to-date and relevant to common coverage questions including storm-related tree removal.

For this page, we analyzed how standard homeowners insurance policies address tree damage and removal costs after a storm. We also reviewed common exclusions, like neglect and non-covered perils, and evaluated coverage scenarios using a standardized homeowner profile to reflect how policies perform under different risk conditions.