The whole scene
Stand back, at the street if you can, and take wide shots that show the whole tree, the whole house and how they relate. Take them from two or three directions. These establish what happened better than any number of close-ups.
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A tree fell on your house or car: what to do in the first 24 hours
It is loud, it usually happens at night, and for a few minutes nobody knows what to do. This is the order to do things in. If anyone is hurt or trapped, or you smell gas or see wires down, stop reading and call 911.
By Harry Fauver, founder of Tree Service Beaverton. Updated September 2026.
The first ten minutes
- Account for everyone, including pets, and move them to the side of the house away from the tree. Call 911 for any injury.
- Stay out of damaged rooms. A trunk that has stopped moving can still settle, and a broken rafter can let go later.
- Check for wires. If any line is down, sagging or touching the tree, treat it as live. Stay at least 50 feet away, which is PGE's own rule, and call 911 and PGE at 503-464-7777. If a line is on a car with someone inside, they should stay in the car until the line is dead.
- Smell gas? Leave. Don't switch anything on or off. Call 911 and NW Natural from outside.
- Turn off power to damaged rooms at the panel, but only if you can reach it without walking under the damage or through water.
Only after those five do you call a tree service. When you call us, we ask what the tree is touching, whether wires are involved, whether everyone is out, and how we get a truck to it.
The first day, week and month
Make it safe and record it
Once everyone is safe, take photographs from a safe distance, including wide shots that show the whole tree and the house. Call your insurer's claims line. Most have a 24-hour number, and they will tell you what emergency work they authorize. Then call a tree service. Do not climb on the roof, and do not start cutting.
Get the weight off and the weather out
The emergency job is to take the tree off the structure in pieces, from the top of the pile down, without loading the roof again. It is not to clean up the whole yard. Once the tree is off, the opening needs covering against rain. Keep every receipt, because reasonable emergency measures are normally part of the claim. If the mast or meter was pulled off the wall, call an electrician today.
Adjuster, estimates and the rest of the tree
The adjuster visits or reviews your photos. Get written estimates for the remaining tree work and for the building repair as separate jobs. Ask whoever removes the tree to look at the ones still standing: a tree that fell because of root rot or saturated soil often has neighbors in the same condition.
Repairs and the things people forget
Structural repairs begin. The stump and root plate are dealt with once the debris is gone: an uprooted stump can sometimes be set back in its hole, or it is cut free and removed. If the tree was a street tree or a protected tree, tell the city what happened and show your photos. Replanting can wait for fall.
The five photographs an adjuster wants
Pick a tag. Take them before anything is moved, and again after the tree is off.
The point of impact
Photograph where the trunk and the large limbs meet the roof, the gutters and the walls, from the ground with your phone's zoom. Do not go up a ladder. After the tree is lifted off, photograph the same spots again.
The base of the tree
Show how the tree failed: a root plate tipped out of the ground, a trunk snapped partway up, or a break at an old decayed wound. It matters if there is later a question about whether the tree was sound, particularly when it came from a neighbor's lot.
Inside the house
Ceilings, walls, floors and belongings under the damage, taken from the doorway without going under anything that is sagging. Include water coming in, since water damage spreads quickly and is part of the claim.
Everything else it hit
Fences, sheds, vehicles, play equipment, garden walls and the neighbor's property. Vehicles are usually claimed on the auto policy, not the homeowner's, so photograph them separately and note the plate.
How insurance usually treats a fallen tree
We are not insurers and policies differ, so treat this as the general pattern and confirm the details with yours.
- Tree hits a covered structure such as the house, the garage, a shed or a fence: removal from the structure and repair are normally covered.
- Tree blocks the driveway or an access ramp: often covered, even with no structural damage.
- Tree falls in the yard and hits nothing: removal is usually not covered.
- Tree hits your car: that goes through the comprehensive part of the auto policy.
- Hauling debris and grinding the stump are often treated differently from getting the tree off the house. We itemize the invoice that way so the adjuster doesn't have to guess.
When it was the neighbor's tree
People expect the owner of the tree to be responsible. Usually, when a healthy tree comes down in a storm, each owner's own insurer covers the damage on their own side. The neighbor becomes liable only if they knew, or should have known, that the tree was dangerous and did nothing. That is why a dated, written note to a neighbor about a dead or leaning tree, sent before the winter, carries real weight afterward. The same applies in reverse if the tree is yours.
Choosing help in a hurry
Big storms bring out-of-town crews who go door to door. Some are fine. Many are not, and the morning after a storm is a poor time to find out which. A few checks take five minutes:
- Look up the contractor's license. Oregon requires tree services to hold a Construction Contractors Board or Landscape Contractors Board license, and both boards have an online search. No number, no job.
- Ask for proof of liability and workers' compensation insurance, sent from the agent, not shown on a phone.
- Get the scope in writing before work starts, even if it is two lines: what comes off the house today, and what is left for later.
- Don't sign over your insurance claim to a contractor, and don't pay in full up front.
- Be suspicious of anyone who suggests topping your remaining trees while they are there.
Our guide to hiring a tree service in Oregon goes through this in more detail.
Related services and guides
Questions people ask
Who do I call first when a tree falls on my house?
911 if anyone is hurt, if wires are down or if you smell gas. Then your insurer's claims line, then a tree service. If a power line is involved, also call PGE at 503-464-7777 and stay at least 50 feet from the line.
Does homeowners insurance cover a tree falling on my house?
In most policies, yes: removing the tree from the structure and repairing the damage are covered when a covered structure is hit. A tree that falls without hitting anything usually isn't. Check your own policy, and call the insurer early.
My neighbor's tree fell on my house. Who is responsible?
Usually your own insurer covers your damage. The neighbor is liable only if they knew or should have known the tree was hazardous and did nothing. A written warning sent beforehand is the usual evidence of that.
Can I start cutting the tree off my roof myself?
Please don't. A tree resting on a structure is under tension and compression, and cuts release that energy unpredictably. Limbs spring, trunks roll, and the roof can be loaded again. It is one of the most dangerous jobs in tree work.
Do I need a permit to remove a tree that has already fallen?
No permit is needed to clear a fallen tree from your house. If it was a street tree or a protected tree in Beaverton, photograph it and let the city know afterward. A replacement may still be required for a street tree.
Request an estimate
Tell us about the tree and we'll call to set up a site walk. For emergency service, skip the form and call.