"MLD" wrote in message ...
"Bob F" wrote in message

stuff snipped

My understanding is that a tree falling is considered an "Act of God",
and
is the problem of the recipient, not the tree owner - many places
anyway.

True---Except when that happened to me---my neighbor claimed it was an act
of God--tree on his property fell and did substantial damage to my
property--- I got pictures of the fallen tree showing that he had it
staked
with guy wires to keep it up. I warned him it would come down in a strong
wind and it did. I told my insurance company (who paid for the clean up
and
damage) to go after his company. They did, his company paid and I got my
deductable back.

Good job in getting your deductible back. You were right to document
everything. I often wonder how many millions of small claims cases have
been lost because of lack of good photographs? In an era where almost every
cell phone is a camera, too, not having evidence like you did is hard to
understand.

Your case is also a perfect example of subrogation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subrogation

Some embedded "subro" clauses in your car or home insurance policies are
quite onerous and can have some seriously negative consequences for the
insured.

Subrogation can thus in rare instances deprive the consumer of the benefit
of the Make Whole Doctrine, the right of an injured party to recover full
damages. This abrogation of Make Whole doctrine puts the insurer in the
position of having first claim to an at-fault party's assets, even if the
assured is left with reduced damages from the insurer as a result (see
Northern Buckeye vs Lawson - 2004).[18] In other words, the law's intent to
prevent dual recovery by the assured can lead to less-than-equitable
recovery (see Roger Baron).
In the cited case, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the language of the
assured's insurance contract overruled Ohio's statutory default Make-Whole
Doctrine. For this reason, an insured client needs a full awareness of
subrogation clauses in their insurance contracts, including insurance
provided by employers, fraternal organizations, etc.

Subro in auto accidents can mean your insurer decides to pay off a
questionable claim listing you as the "at fault" party and there's very
little you can do about it. They have that right under most insurance
agreements and it can affect your premiums for three years in most
jurisdictions.

Worse than that, you can't even sue the other party to try to clear yourself
(for example subpoenaing intersection camera footage from the county to
prove you had the green light) because subrogation usually forces you to
give up the right to sue - IF you accept the insurance payout.

--

Bobby G.