A tree fell on your house or car in a storm: what to do next

1. Make sure everyone is safe

Get people and pets away from the tree and out of any room it has come into. A tree that has fallen once is not necessarily finished moving: limbs can be hung up in the canopy, the trunk can be resting under tension, and the roof or wall it hit may no longer be sound.

• Assume any wire is live. Ausgrid advises staying at least 8 metres away from fallen wires and power lines. Fallen trees and branches can also hide damaged electrical equipment, so do not walk through a tangle of debris near a line.
• Do not start cutting. Chainsaw work on a fallen tree is some of the most dangerous tree work there is, because the wood is under load and can spring or roll when cut. This is a job for a qualified arborist, not a neighbour with a saw.
• Do not climb onto the roof to look at the damage, especially in wind or rain.

Trees on or near power lines have their own rules about who is allowed to work near them. Our guide to tree removal near powerlines lists the distributor to call in each state.

2. Call the right people, in the right order

What the SES will and will not do. The SES exists to make things safe, not to finish the job. VICSES, for example, asks people to call 132 500 when a fallen tree has caused structural damage to a home or vehicle, or when a tree or large branch is stopping you getting in or out of your home. It says that removing debris, cutting down trees that are still standing and minor damage are jobs for a professional tradesperson. So expect to need an arborist to finish the removal and clean-up once the immediate danger has passed. After a big storm the SES has to prioritise the most serious jobs, so a response can take time.

3. Photograph everything before the clean-up

The Insurance Council of Australia's advice is to take photos or video of the damage to your property and possessions before you start cleaning up. For a fallen tree, that means:

• Wide shots showing where the tree was, where it fell and what it hit.
• Close-ups of the damage to the roof, walls, fence, car or shed.
• The base of the tree and the break or root plate. This is the evidence of whether the tree was healthy, which matters for liability.
• Anything that shows the tree was dangerous before the storm, such as earlier photos or emails to a neighbour or the council, if it was not yours.
• The date and time. Most phones record this automatically, so keep the originals.

Keep receipts for anything you pay for to protect the property, such as a tarp, and do not throw away damaged items that could be repaired unless they are a hazard.

4. Talk to your insurer before booking tree work

The Insurance Council of Australia says to speak to your insurer before you attempt or authorise any building work, including emergency repairs, and to get permission in writing, because work done without approval may not be covered. Tree removal that is part of a claim is no different, and your insurer may also want to use its own contractors.

Then work out which policy is actually involved, because it depends on what the tree landed on.

If it fell on your house

Storm damage to the building is normally a home building insurance claim. The tree removal is the part that surprises people. The Financial Rights Legal Centre explains that some policies only pay to remove the tree if it damaged your insured home or contents. It also notes that debris from trees, shrubs and plants may not be included in a policy's debris-removal cover. Check your product disclosure statement for what removal cover it includes, and your excess, before you agree to a quote.

If it fell on your car

This is a car insurance question, not a home insurance one. Moneysmart explains that comprehensive car insurance covers damage to your own car, including from weather events, although every policy has exclusions worth checking. Third party property damage cover does not cover your own car at all, and third party, fire and theft cover only adds fire and theft. If you only have third party cover, the question becomes whether whoever owned the tree was negligent, which is covered below.

If it fell on the fence

For a shared boundary fence, the Financial Rights Legal Centre says you and your neighbour usually pay half of the repair each, and each of you may be able to claim the share on your own policy.

If it fell and damaged nothing

A tree across the lawn with no damage to the house or contents is the case most likely to leave you paying for removal yourself. It is still worth asking your insurer, since some policies do include limited removal cover.

Whose fault is it? Healthy trees vs dangerous trees

Most people's first question about a neighbour's tree landing on their house is who pays. The Financial Rights Legal Centre explains that if a healthy tree falls in a storm, its owner is usually not liable, because it is treated as an act of God. The answer changes if the tree was dead, damaged or known to drop branches and the owner did nothing about it, for example after being warned or after an arborist recommended removal.

In practice, you claim on your own policy and your insurer decides whether to pursue anyone else. That is why the photos of the break and any earlier warnings matter. The full picture, including shared trees and trees that were already a known problem, is in our guide to who pays for tree removal. If the tree was a council street tree, see council tree damaging my property, because claims against councils turn on negligence and have their own process.

Do you need council approval to clear it?

A tree that is already on the ground is usually treated differently from a healthy standing tree, and many councils make allowances for storm damage. Northern Beaches Council in Sydney, for example, allows trees that have fallen or partially fallen in a storm and still present a danger to be removed without a permit, with photos required. It separately allows removal of trees that an AQF Level 5 arborist certifies in writing as an imminent danger and high risk to life and property, with a copy of the report sent to council.

That is one council. The pattern to plan around is:

• Making an immediate hazard safe is generally allowed, but keep the evidence.
• A damaged tree that is still standing is where people get caught. If it is not an immediate danger, it may still need approval, and an arborist's written assessment is the usual evidence. See removing a dead or dangerous tree and how to get an arborist report.
• Other trees nearby do not become exempt because there was a storm. “While we're here” removals of undamaged trees are exactly what councils fine people for.

If in doubt, check your council's tree pages or start with the permit checker.

Make safe first, full removal second

Storm tree work often happens in two stages, and it helps to know which one you are paying for.

• Make safe. Cutting the tree off the roof or car, removing hanging limbs, clearing an exit and stopping further damage. This may be done by the SES, an insurer's contractor or an arborist on an emergency call-out, and it is often all that can happen during or straight after a storm.
• Full removal. Dismantling what is left, removing the trunk and green waste, and grinding the stump. This can usually wait for a normal booking, several quotes and your insurer's approval.

Emergency call-outs after a storm can cost more than a booked job, so ask for the make-safe work to be quoted separately from the full removal. For typical removal and stump grinding prices by size, see our tree removal cost guide.

Watch out for storm chasers

Unsolicited offers to cut up fallen trees follow storms, and a genuine emergency is the moment people are most likely to hand over cash to whoever turns up first. If someone knocks on your door and you agree to work worth $100 or more, the ACCC explains that it is an unsolicited consumer agreement: you get a 10 business day cooling-off period, and during it the business generally cannot supply the services or take payment, with narrow exceptions. Door-to-door visits are only allowed between 9am and 6pm on weekdays and 9am and 5pm on Saturdays, never on Sundays or public holidays.

• Do not pay a large cash deposit to someone you have never checked.
• Do not let anyone start on a job that is part of an insurance claim until your insurer has agreed to it.
• Ask for the public liability certificate of currency and the qualification of whoever is doing the cutting. If a crew damages your property and has no insurance, you may end up paying for it.
• Be wary of “we'll take the other trees down too, no permit needed”.

Our arborist vs tree lopper guide has the full checklist of what to ask before anyone starts.

After the storm: stop it happening again

The Insurance Council of Australia's storm preparation advice includes removing dead or rotting trees and trimming branches that overhang the house, and it notes you may need a council permit to do it. The best time to deal with a tree you are worried about is before storm season, when you can get an arborist's opinion, apply for approval if needed and book the work at a normal price. If a neighbour's tree is the worry, putting your concern in writing now is also what makes a liability argument possible later.

If your insurer will not pay and you think it should, use its internal complaints process first. If that does not resolve it, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a free external dispute service, and the Financial Rights Legal Centre offers free advice on insurance disputes.