A friend of mine has a house that has quite a few huge trees that could possibly fall on it. Or I guess to put it plainly, will fall on it at some point. Does anyone know if homeowners insurance will help or outright pay to have these removed? Or does it have to come through her roof first?

Certainly wouldn’t hurt to have an agent come look at it. That’s what they are there for.

The way that would work here is, the home owner, not the insurance company, would have an obligation to take responsibility for the trees. If the owner was complacent, didn't take responsibility or act proactively and a tree caused damage the insurance company would deny or at least try very hard to deny the claim. Insurance: best friend when you're buying, worse enemy when you're collecting.

We had a big silver maple that needed to come down for a long time. And, like you, I was concerned for the safety of the house & family. When I said something to our H.O. agent about them paying for all or part of it..he said "No. We'll take the chance for a claim". I could not get a tree company to even give an estimate until the electric company brought their contractor in to do a 'make safe'. And they jerked us around for almost 3 months to do that. 2 big companies out of Lexington gave estimates of $8,300 and $10,200. Big a$$ tree. 75' tall & 8' at the ground. In-laws planted it when the house was built in '55. I had a local that I have known for a long time do it for just a hair over half of the lower estimate.

You might be able to get a rate adjustment for getting rid of them but they likely won't pay for it

Best bet is electrical company or city if there are wires running near the trees. The city here took all my big trees down because of the wires running through the trees.

Here in NY the responsibility is on the homeowner unless the trees are on property owned by a neighbor. In that case the homeowner must put the neighbor on notice. Then it’s on the neighbor. If the trees are on the homeowner property it’s part of responsibility of owning a home, not insurance maintenance.

Your homeowner insurance will not pay to remove the tree while it is standing. They are not playing hardball, just following the signed contract you made with them. Read your policy.

Have them come out and they deny it then document it and the tree does fall they may deny it again.

The only way they will cut trees for free is if they are near utilities like powerlines if it's on your property it's the landowners job to maintain it then.

My son had bought a house here, (NY) and the homeowners insurance sent an inspector that said several large branches from nearby trees that were over the roof needed to be removed before insurance was granted. No, they don't pay for it.

I had the same situation. Not only would h/o not help pay for it, the agent told me that now that I told them it was a hazard it was my responsibility to take it down and if it fell before that they don't have to pay.

Bingo! Any time you contact your insurance company for advice they make a detailed notation in your file to use against you in the future.

Insurance companies have an obligation to examine and evaluate risks. It is called underwriting. They will also look at your credit rating and driving record, even when underwriting a homeowner application, and especially your claims records. I was in the industry for 15 years. You wouldn’t believe the things applicants don’t reveal. Back when health insurance wasn’t a guarantee, my rejection rate could have been 50% due to undisclosed medical histories.

Call "Jake " from State Farm.

Had a huge pecan tree in the front yard when we bought the place. Went on vacation and came home and the tree had spilt straight down the middle so much so you could see daylight from one side to the other.
Called the insurance company and they said they wouldn’t pay unless it hit the house. I told them no problem, I was going to take another week of vacation and pick out new house plans while I was at it because if this comes down it’s coming through the house and will be resting on the living room floor.
He came out the next morning and said he didn’t care what it cost, he’d pay. Just get someone there by that day.
I did...and he did.