My neighbour’s tree has blown down in my garden. Who is responsible for its removal?

We’ve already had a taste of the damage winter gales can inflict on our properties and gardens in recent weeks so we thought it might be helpful to address some of the confusion surrounding fallen trees, especially incidents occurring across two domestic properties.

Tree owners have a common law duty to limit or prevent to their best ability any risks posed by their trees. This means seeking independent, professional advice from an aboriculturalist if they suspect disease or decay to get confirmation on what steps should be taken to safeguard people and property from damage. A tree owner can be held personally responsible if they’ve ignored advice regarding a potentially dangerous tree and which subsequently causes damage to people or property.

When a tree falls into a neighbouring property, the law of trespass still applies and the tree owner is not permitted to enter next door’s garden to clear any debris except by prior arrangement.

Generally speaking, both parties (the tree owner and the neighbour) will come to a private reparation agreement or contact their own insurers to pursue a claim for damage relating to the fallen tree. However, the majority of home insurance policies only provide cover for the damage caused by a tree rather than the tree itself which means each affected person will need to arrange the clean-up operation and removal services themselves. The neighbour is then entitled to make a reasonable claim for expenses against the tree owner but this is only likely to be successful in cases where the neighbour can demonstrate negligence on behalf of the tree owner. In the best circumstances, debris removal will be arranged by mutual consent to avoid a lengthy legal dispute.

In situations where a fallen tree has caused damage to buildings on an adjacent property, this is covered by home insurance policies as well as removal of the tree if this action is needed in order to carry out repairs to the premises. Householders are advised to read the ‘storm’ section of their home insurance policy for further clarity on such occurrences as there can be exclusions for storm damage to gates and fences.

One of the biggest grey areas in tree law is to whom the tree belongs. A tree owner can lay claim to any part of a tree which has potential value to him and ask for it to be returned. Where branches, flowers or fruit have fallen into an adjacent property, for example, the neighbour must ask the owner if they would like any of the debris returned and it’s an offence under the Theft Act 1968 to pick such items without permission.

The general rule is that a tree belongs to the person whose land it originally grew on. When trees overlap a boundary, ownership usually falls with the person who has the greatest proportion of the tree’s trunk within their boundary.