Arborist damaged tree. Now what?

[Mleo]

We had a very full tree that was starting to encroach on our neighbor's roof. The arborist said they would lightly thin it and shape it. The result it horrible. Leaves have died, branches gone bare, and the shape is terrible. I'm worried that the effects of the shock to the tree will be long lived.

What recourse do we have with the arborist?They are bonded/insured. Minimally I'm asking for our money back. But if this is long term damage, what does arborist insurance cover?

Pictures: one photo of the tree before. Three of the tree after, showing the overall state and some of the sun scalding and bare branches.

 

[ATH]

Have you have a 3rd party Certified Arborist out to offer a diagnosis? It may or may not be a direct cause/effect.

What kind of tree is that?

Insurance may or may not cover. Many policies have an exclusion for what is called "your work".

 

[Del_]

I see what may be a scale infestation.

Doesn't look like damage caused by pruning.



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[Mleo]

Have you have a 3rd party Certified Arborist out to offer a diagnosis? It may or may not be a direct cause/effect.

What kind of tree is that?

Insurance may or may not cover. Many policies have an exclusion for what is called "your work".

Thanks. We've done no work on the tree. That's what we hired out for What is "your work"? Am I reading that correctly as something we've done?

Will look for a consultation. The tree is a type of Pittosporum.

 

[Mleo]

I see what may be a scale infestation.

Doesn't look like damage caused by pruning.



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Do you see a scale issue in the "before" photo? I'm not sure what to look for. I can say for sure that before, the canopy was not full of bare branches, brown leaves, etc. That's only since shortly after the pruning.

 

[ATH]

Thanks. We've done no work on the tree. That's what we hired out for What is "your work"? Am I reading that correctly as something we've done?

Will look for a consultation. The tree is a type of Pittosporum.

No..."your work" would be something excluded from coverage on the arborist's policy. If they drop a limb on your house, that would be covered. If they did something like pruning at the wrong time of year that caused your tree's health to decline, that is excluded.

I'm not an insurance guy...look up "your work exclusion insurance". Much of what you find will be about building contractors. If they build a house poorly and it fails, that is "their work" not an accident covered by liability insurance. This would be a similar situation.

I learned this when my rates jumped for pesticide application. There was a company who killed 50+ acres of turf by spraying the wrong weed control. The insurance denied the claim based on the "your work exclusion". State Dep of Ag told insurance companies they had to remove that exclusion as it applies to pesticide application. Insurance said OK and jacked up rates.

Point being, I doubt it would be covered by their insurance even IF they caused the damage.

 

[sundance]

No..."your work" would be something excluded from coverage on the arborist's policy. If they drop a limb on your house, that would be covered. If they did something like pruning at the wrong time of year that caused your tree's health to decline, that is excluded.

I'm not an insurance guy...look up "your work exclusion insurance". Much of what you find will be about building contractors. If they build a house poorly and it fails, that is "their work" not an accident covered by liability insurance. This would be a similar situation.

I learned this when my rates jumped for pesticide application. There was a company who killed 50+ acres of turf by spraying the wrong weed control. The insurance denied the claim based on the "your work exclusion". State Dep of Ag told insurance companies they had to remove that exclusion as it applies to pesticide application. Insurance said OK and jacked up rates.

Point being, I doubt it would be covered by their insurance even IF they caused the damage.

So, what purpose does the insurance serve?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

What's the timeline on those photos?

 

[Raintree]

I agree with ATH about the cause and effect. The decline in the crown is unrelated to the pruning. You need to be looking at the soil, what has been used on the patio under the tree? How friendly is that neighbor, and what do they think of your tree?

 

[Mleo]

What's the timeline on those photos?

About 3 weeks after trimming

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Step one is to diagnose the issue and correct the problem. Once the issue is diagnosed, then any blame can be assessed. Quite frankly, the OP seems more concerned with suing the original arborist than figuring out what is going on with his tree.

 

[Karen2]

About insurance:

There are two types of liability insurance for businesses or professionals: general liability insurance and "E&O" (errors and omissions) insurance. If your arborist caused damage to you or your property by botching the job, that falls under E&O insurance, which the arborist might or might not have. If instead you tripped over his equipment and broke your ankle, that would come under general liability.

Ultimately you can't claim against his insurance, you have to send him your complaint and request for compensation, and ultimately sue him if you can't otherwise get satisfaction. His insurance isn't really your business, though it's nice to know if there is enough money available (either his own assets or insurance) to pay if you win in court.

Since you are not qualified to identify the cause of your tree's problems, you won't be able to prove anything unless you get a consultation from a good forensic arborist, so that's the obvious first step in figuring out both who/what is to blame and how/whether the tree can be saved.

If the tree was ailing before your arborist arrived, and he was an actual arborist rather than just a tree surgeon, he should have told you about your tree's problems before agreeing to do work on the tree. Or at least mentioned it while he was doing the work, if that was when he noticed it. Did he mention anything? If not, Raintree might be onto something. There are sneaky ways to kill a tree if someone wants to. Copper nail(s) driven into the trunk near the base, for one.

 

[ATH]

I was with you until the "copper nail". First, real copper nails are not all that common. Secondly, one would certainly not do it...it would take a bunch.

 

[Karen2]

I was with you until the "copper nail". First, real copper nails are not all that common. Secondly, one would certainly not do it...it would take a bunch.

Good to know.

 

[pdqdl]

...

Point being, I doubt it would be covered by their insurance even IF they caused the damage.

And it is probably more legal expenses to prove they caused the damage than the tree claim would be worth. You would need a smoking hot gun to prove liability on this tree, I suspect.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

No matter what, step one is to get a certified arborist there asap to get an accurate diagnosis on what has put the tree in decline, and come up with a treatment plan.

 

[lone wolf]

??
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=16512
Sound familiar?
Over the last 25 years, arborists, horticulturists, landscape managers, and others have frequently noticed a widespread decline of older, established Victorian box trees in Southern California. Affected trees tend to lose vigor gradually but steadily; canopies thin; leaves yellow, die, and drop; and twigs and branches die back, either generally over the whole tree or, at least initially, restricted to one or more branches (Figure 2).

I'm thinking the pruning just made all that more visible?

Well the fact that there are some yellow leaves visible in the before pic does draw a lot of doubt as to the Arborist being at fault. Good spotting on your part.

 

[Karen2]

Getting a bit off-topic, do I see power lines running through the tree's canopy? Is that just the feeder line to your house, or a line going through from pole to pole?

If the latter, you might want to say goodbye to this tree anyway since the power company might come and butcher it someday if they think it's a danger to their lines.

 

[Raintree]

Darkened moss covered patio tiles, tree is healthy.
Bright clean patio tiles, tree is in decline.
Again what was used on the patio? 10 to 1 this is the issue.

 

[lone wolf]

View attachment 995442
Darkened moss covered patio tiles, tree is healthy. View attachment 995443
Bright clean patio tiles, tree is in decline.
Again what was used on the patio? 10 to 1 this is the issue.

And when was the patio installed?