Chances are that strong wind movements knocked down the tree to your car as opposed to someone chainsawing the tree down. In situations like this, you may be wanting to know, “If a tree falls on my car who is responsible?” Unfortunate events that happen due to natural forces (wind from a hurricane, tornado, typhoon, etc) are considered as “acts of God” in legal terms, and are not compensated by anyone.
Legalities
Well, there is some gray area in which you can argue to get some compensation by holding someone responsible. However, that is the only way to receive compensation. An insurance will not handle damage by natural occurrence if you do not have the comprehensive coverage.
You can argue that the tree (if it wasn’t your tree that fell on top of your car)’s roots were rotten, and that the owner of the tree was setting up a hazard by not removing it. For this, you will have to verify that the tree roots were rotten or the tree was misplaced posed as a significant danger. In both cases, evidence is required.
Or if the tree is yours and you have a gardener do the work for your house, you can argue that the reason that the tree fell down was because the tree was weak at its base, which was essentially the gardener’s fault.
Or maybe it’s simply your fault because you failed to recognize that your own tree was in a bad condition, and that parking the car near the tree despite the knowing a bad storm was coming was a bad decision.
Depending on the amount and the type of damage, the car would need various types of work done. So it is generally not advised to drive an unrepaired car until a full assessment can be done. Call a nearby repair company and ask them to tow the car for you so that they can do an assessment at the location/fix it in their shop.
Additional Help
If a tree falls on my car, who is responsible? Probably you or no one, depending on the circumstances. If you feel like you need professional consultation — or a repairman for your car — TalkLocal can help with finding the correct local experts. Get connected to one in minutes!
