First, get everyone out and away from the damaged area, call 911 if there is any injury or a downed power line, and call BC Hydro at 1 800 224 9376 for line contact. Then photograph everything, call your insurer to open a claim, and bring in an emergency tree crew to remove the load and let repairs begin. Your own home insurance generally covers a tree that hits your house, whoever’s tree it was.
Every fall, windstorms and atmospheric rivers put Fraser Valley conifers onto roofs, fences, vehicles and carports. Here is the order of operations that protects your family, your claim and your wallet.
What do you do in the first hour?
Safety first, and safety means assuming the situation is less stable than it looks. A tree resting on a house is under load, and it can shift as broken structure settles or wind gusts return.
- Get people and pets out of rooms under the impact area. A trunk across the ridge can be held up by little more than a cracked rafter.
- Treat any wire as live. If the tree brought down lines, or is anywhere near them, stay at least 10 metres back and call 911 and BC Hydro. Never approach a downed line, and never let a tree crew start until the utility confirms the line is dead.
- Do not climb on the roof or start cutting. A loaded stem stores enormous energy, and cutting it in the wrong order is how storm cleanup injuries happen. WorkSafeBC classes storm damaged tree work among the highest-risk cutting there is (worksafebc.com).
- Shut off what needs shutting off. If the impact damaged the area near gas or electrical service, shut off at the panel or meter if you can do so safely, and call FortisBC for any gas smell.
- Photograph and video everything from every safe angle before anything is moved. Wide shots, close-ups, the tree’s base, the point of impact. Your claim gets built on this record.
How does the insurance side actually work?
Notify your insurer the same day, keep every receipt, and understand three things about how these claims usually run. This is general information; your policy wording governs.
First, standard BC home policies generally cover storm damage to your dwelling from a falling tree, plus the cost of removing the tree from the structure, after your deductible. The Insurance Bureau of Canada publishes plain-language guidance on storm claims at ibc.ca.
Second, you have a duty to mitigate, meaning to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Emergency tarping, boarding and removing the tree from the roof are mitigation, and reasonable mitigation costs are normally part of the claim. You do not need to leave a fir in your living room until an adjuster visits. Document first, then stabilize.
Third, whose tree it was matters less than people expect. Your policy responds to your damage. A neighbour’s healthy tree felled by wind is an act of nature. The exception is the known hazard: if the tree was demonstrably dangerous and the owner had been warned in writing, liability can shift, which is exactly why our guide on neighbour tree rules in BC recommends written notice for worrying trees. Fences sit in a grey zone: they are usually covered under your own policy’s detached structures coverage, with the same act-of-nature logic between neighbours.
How does emergency tree removal from a structure work?
Removing a tree from a building is rigging work done in reverse order of how the tree landed, so the load comes off without the roof taking a second hit. A typical sequence on a Fraser Valley job:
- Assessment of the load path: where the tree’s weight is actually bearing, what is holding it, and what moves when the first cut is made.
- Stabilization: rigging lines, cribbing under suspended sections, sometimes a crane or lifting equipment for large stems over living space.
- Sectional removal: the tree comes off in controlled pieces, smallest loads first, never one big cut.
- Tarping and board-up: once the load is off, the opening gets weatherproofed so the next rain band does not double the interior damage.
- Documentation: photos throughout and an itemized invoice, which is what your adjuster needs.
Our emergency and storm damage service runs exactly this sequence. After a widespread windstorm, triage is real: occupied houses come before fences, and fences before yard cleanup. A tree on a fence or lawn is frustrating but stable; it is priced and scheduled as planned work, closer to the numbers in our tree removal cost guide.
What happens after the tree is off?
Once the load is removed and the roof is tarped, the file splits into three tracks that run in parallel:
- Structural repair. Your insurer’s adjuster scopes the building damage and repairs proceed through a restoration contractor. Keep your own photo record independent of theirs.
- The rest of the tree. The standing stub, the stump and the debris field still need dealing with. Insurance usually covers removal from the structure, while stump grinding and yard restoration often land on you; see our guide on stump grinding versus stump removal for what that involves.
- The other trees. A failure is information. Whatever brought this tree down, saturated soil, root decay, exposure after nearby clearing, may apply to its neighbours. Walk the property against our checklist of signs a tree is dangerous and have anything suspicious assessed while the event is fresh.
Can you prevent the next one?
Not every failure is preventable, but most of the trees we remove off houses gave warnings. Root-plate movement, fungal conks at the base, dead tops and new leans are visible months or years before the storm that finishes the job. A pre-season danger tree assessment of the trees within striking distance of your house costs a small fraction of one insurance deductible, and planned removal of a genuine hazard costs far less than the same tree coming off your roof at midnight in November.
The bottom line
People first, power lines at a distance, photos before cleanup, insurer on the phone the same day, and a professional crew to take the load off in the right order. Your own policy is almost always the one that responds, and your documentation is what makes the claim smooth. If a tree is on your house, fence or driveway right now, call us through the emergency storm damage page, or request an estimate to have the rest of your trees checked before the next system rolls up the valley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does home insurance cover a tree falling on my house in BC?
Standard home insurance policies generally cover damage to your house and attached structures from a falling tree, along with tree removal from the structure, subject to your deductible and policy limits. Coverage for removing a tree that fell in the yard without hitting anything is often limited or excluded. Confirm specifics with your insurer, since policies differ.
Whose insurance pays if it was my neighbour's tree?
Usually yours. Your policy covers your house regardless of where the tree grew, and a healthy tree brought down by a storm is treated as an act of nature with no one at fault. The neighbour's liability generally only enters the picture if the tree was a known, documented hazard they ignored. Insurers pursue each other over that; your job is documenting everything.
Should I call a tree company or my insurer first?
If anyone is in danger or lines are down, call 911 and BC Hydro first. After that, safety-critical stabilization does not need to wait for an adjuster: insurers expect you to prevent further damage, and emergency mitigation is normally covered. Photograph everything before work starts, keep every invoice, and notify your insurer as soon as it is practical, the same day if possible.
How fast can a tree be removed from a roof?
Crews prioritize by risk, and a tree on an occupied house is at the top of the list. Simple cases can be lifted or dismantled the same day. After a major regional windstorm, when hundreds of properties are hit at once, response can stretch to days and tarping becomes the interim step. Access, tree size and whether a crane is needed drive the timeline.
Will insurance pay to remove the stump and replace the tree?
Rarely in full. Policies focus on damage to insured structures and removal of the tree from them. Stump grinding, yard restoration and replanting typically fall outside or under small sublimits. Read your policy's tree and debris removal clause, and get the adjuster's position in writing before assuming.
Published July 25, 2026 · Last updated July 25, 2026 · Fraser Valley Tree Service