Tony Hawkins, ABR

I’ve been watching the birds and squirrels prepare for the coming winter.  From their activity, we may be in for some serious weather.  And if that’s the case, we need to prep also.  During autumn we have a chance to clear dead limbs, clean up yard debris, and generally get our shelters ready for the coming winter months.  Although the Carolina Hurricanes pro hockey team have a home in Cary, their ‘icing’ problems are a lot different than the ones we can face during adverse weather conditions.

If icing occurs on our trees ,and limbs break and fall; or the wind moves powerfully through our neighborhood causing trees to fall on either their property or ours creates an issue.  Avoiding the issue before it happens is best.  Complicating the situation is the unfortunate matter that insurance companies have recently adopted outrageously bad attitudes toward their customers of "You file a legitimate claim; we raise your rate or cancel your policy."   If you have a large claim, unless you can pay it yourself, you really have no alternative but to file a claim and hope your insurance company is ethical and won't raise your rate or cancel you.  An insurance company might "subrogate" and sue the neighbor if there is evidence of the neighbor's negligence, such as failure to remove a diseased tree, which was leaning toward your property before a storm or adverse weather event.  In either case, being prepared can help eliminate potential problems.