For tree companies
Do the job right. Get paid in full.
Storm work gets paid on paperwork. Keep these records on every job, bill the homeowner, and keep everything in writing.
Records to keep on every job
- Signed work authorization or contract, with the homeowner’s name, address and payment terms
- Itemized invoice: crew hours, each machine, disposal, with a plain reason for each line
- Numbered before, during and after photos from the same angles
- Dump or disposal tickets and equipment rental receipts
- The NOAA Storm Events record for the county and date
- Your W-9 and certificate of insurance
- Every email with the homeowner and the insurer, in one place
How tree claims usually work
The homeowner files the claim with their insurer and is your customer. Many policies pay tree removal only when the tree hit a covered structure or blocks a driveway or ramp, often with a cap per tree and per loss.[source] Damage to the house is covered separately. Your job is a complete, honest invoice package that shows what the work cost and why.
Stay on your side of the line: explain your own bid, don’t interpret the homeowner’s policy, don’t negotiate their claim, don’t take an assignment of benefits, and never waive a deductible.[source][source]
Working in Alabama? During a declared emergency, a price 25% or more above the area’s 30-day pre-storm average is prima facie evidence of gouging unless your added costs explain it, with civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation.[source][source] Price from your normal rates and keep receipts.
Documentation checklist
Before, during and after every job.
Before you cut
- Signed work authorization: homeowner name, property address, scope, how you price, and payment terms
- The homeowner’s insurance company and claim number, if they have filed
- Date and time you arrived, and who was on the crew
- Hazards noted: lines down, tree under tension, roof penetration, standing water
- Before photos: street shot with the house number, two or more sides, the break or root plate, something for scale
During the job
- Crew log: every person, their role, start and stop times
- Equipment log: every machine (crane, bucket, loader, chipper, grapple saw) with hours on site
- Why each machine was needed: access, weight, tree on the structure, risk of more damage
- Photos of rigging, crane setup and the tree coming off the structure
After the job
- After photos from the same angles as the before photos
- Dump, landfill or yard tickets with weights or loads
- Crane or subcontractor tickets
- Anything left on site (stump, wood the owner kept) and any damage someone else must repair
Office file
- An itemized invoice with a plain reason for every line
- Your W-9, so payment can be issued
- Certificate of insurance and any local license or registration you hold
- Every email with the homeowner and the insurer, kept with the claim
Keep location and time stamps on your photos. Don’t filter or edit them, and keep the originals.
How carriers look at it
Know what the adjuster is checking.
Did it hit something covered?
When a wind-felled tree damages the house or another covered structure, removing it is usually handled as part of that claim. When it falls without hitting anything, many policies pay only a small removal allowance, and only if it blocks a driveway or a ramp. The common HO-3 sample form caps tree removal at $1,000 per loss and $500 per tree.[source] The homeowner’s actual policy controls.
Was the work needed now?
Policies expect the homeowner to protect the property from more damage. A tree resting on a roof in the rain is an emergency. Write down why the job couldn’t wait, and photograph it.
Is the price reasonable?
Adjusters often compare a bill to estimating software or pricing guides. Those are their tools, not your contract. Your answer is a line-by-line invoice, a job cost breakdown, and comparable invoices from similar jobs, dated and in the same market.
Who pays the deductible?
Hurricane deductibles are often a percentage of the home’s coverage, not a flat amount, so your invoice may fall inside it. The homeowner is your customer: collect the deductible like you always do, and never offer to waive it.[source]
Claims Reaper
The paperwork, drafted for you.
Claims Reaper turns those records into one invoice package and drafts every follow-up. You review and send each one from your own mailbox. Basic Automatic is free to start for the first 500 users (beta).
Sources
- Sample HO-3 homeowners policy, “Debris Removal” additional coverage (III)
- Fla. Stat. § 626.854 (“public adjuster” defined; what non-licensees may not do for pay)
- Fla. Stat. § 489.147 (prohibited property-insurance practices by contractors)
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (recorded weather by county and date)
- Ala. Code § 8-31-3 (unconscionable prices for goods and services during a declared state of emergency)
- Ala. Code § 8-31-4 (25% or more above the 30-day pre-emergency average is prima facie evidence, unless explained by reasonable costs)
- Ala. Code § 8-31-5 (civil penalty up to $1,000 per violation, $25,000 cap per 24 hours; possible license suspension for continuous, willful violations)