An interesting insurance question arose recently when a vehicle my son sold to a friend was damaged by a falling tree.
The 1999 Durango was parked in the parking lot of my son’s friend’s employer while he worked. A dead tree that had been leaning over perilously for some time finally fell over – right on top of the front end of the old Durango.
Fortunately, my friend’s son wasn’t in the vehicle at the time and it appears only the hood and windshield were damaged. Given the age of the vehicle, he has only liability insurance on it.
So who’s responsible? The landowner where the tree is rooted? The employer? The vehicle owner? And given there’s only liability insurance on it, if no one else is responsible, does he have to pay for the repairs himself? Since I once owned that vehicle, I know it was already totaled once (I bought it back from the insurance company and paid for a bare minimum of repairs to make it operational again).
Without seeing any of the policies, my experience tells me the landowner will be responsible for repairs and his homeowners insurance will be on the hook.
Right now, my son’s friend is attempting to locate the landowner. When I find how what happens who pays, I’ll update you.