Neighbours fallen tree has trapped me and my neighbour in our homes

[FinanceHo]

The drive we share is completely blocked by this behemoth tree-

neighbour has said they rent and the clear up is nothing to do with them

i I can’t get to work

any advice

I’m fairly certain if I got a friend the drag the tree off into the main road it would get shifted fairly soon.

anyone had similar

re letting agents lack of co-operation. Check their website to see if they have a head office, and are members of a lettings agents association. Email and report with pictures of the tree.
Say that the renters have identified them as the letting agent and they are refusing to comment on whether they let the property, by witholding the landlords contact details and refusing to contact the landlord themselves they are delaying removal of a tree which has fallen from Landlords garden into yours, blocking your exit. Emphasise its a safety issue because it prevents access to medical, fire, power and water services. and you are losing wages.
Hope you get it sorted soon OPx

I live in a rural area, we have a chainsaw, as do 2 others in my small street. In a suburban or urban area the chance of finding anyone local with anything like this is virtually zero.

It's hard work chopping up and shifting a large tree even with a chain saw, with an axe unless your a lumberjack by profession you'll be there for a month.

Hope you get it sorted OP, don't borrow or hire a chainsaw unless you know what you're doing with one.

as others have suggested it would be helpful to see the size of the tree, if I had said ' a photo would be helpful' would that have been better for you ?

Sounds like a pain in the arse. I can totally see why you are anxious about it. People don't all have understanding employers and some have zero hours contracts on minimum wage. We don't all have 4x4 to pull off fallen trees or neighbours with power tools. I wouldn't be paying or claiming on my insurance either but would be pushing the estate agents to contact the landlord. Use the time that you are home to raise hell wih them. They'll get onto it if you make it hard for them.

And chainsaw trousers, and safety boots ...

My DSS was a tree surgeon, his safety kit cost hundreds.

definitely happens in our area, as does alerting domestic chainsaw owners!

Considering the letting agents lack of empathy, I don't think you would be unreasonable to put a shout out on your local fb group asking for someone with a chainsaw to help you clear some space.
My dh would be first in the queue 😆

Mini chainsaws are relatively cheap on Amazon and usually available for same-day delivery. Is there any chance your neighbour would chip in with you to buy one?

That's how we managed when a tree fell down and blocked our gate.

I am not paying for the removal myself

If it’s an act of God then unfortunately that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. A neighbours substantial tree fell into our garden in very high winds. The tree was healthy and well maintained so it was deemed as an act of God, caused by the storm, which meant that although legally the tree belonged to the neighbour, they were not at fault and we had to claim on our home insurance to clear up the damage on our own land.

The landlord will be responsible for removing the part of the tree on their own property so it may well be cheaper for you and your neighbour to work with them and split the cost to get the lot removed. Might also be a good idea to take close ups of the tree trunk and roots themselves if there’s any sign of rotting, as the landlord would be responsible if they’ve been negligent.

@FinanceHo is there a number for the local fire station, a nonemergency number? They might be able to help.

Surely you should call 101 for advice as you are trapped?
This is not on you to resolve.

Get an uber, call the landlord.

They’re not trapped, their car is blocked in

Posters that put things like this make me smile. As if anyone is going to chop a full tree up with an axe!!😆

I had a large tree fall last year. It blocked a footpath. I had to fence off the footpath to keep people out of danger (it was leaning dangerously on one branch that could have snapped so it fell lower) and arrange for someone to come and get it. A local log seller came and cut it up with his heavy duty saws. We live on a small holding and have various power saws, but they would have taken ages to cut a big tree. It’s 100% the tree owner’s responsibility- if the OP moved it with a 4x4 and damaged a fence or something she’d then be liable.

OP I’d contact the local council, who may do something if it’s blocking a road/access and post on a local facebook group. Be sure to tag in the letting agent- it might gee them up into doing something. Facebook was the way I found the log guy who cut up my tree for free..

The letting agency have no responsibility other than contacting the landlord, which they’ve told OP they are trying to do. Ultimately, if this is an act of God caused by the weather, then the landlord is not legally responsible for moving anything other than the part of the tree on their own land. OP and her neighbour will have to claim on their home insurance to clear up on their own properties unless they can prove the landlord was negligent.

I don’t think a photo of a tree on a driveway will identify anything - apart from the type of tree 🌳

Maybe you need to call the local TV news team to find name and shame the letting agency.

It’s 100% the tree owner’s responsibility- if the OP moved it with a 4x4 and damaged a fence or something she’d then be liable.

Sorry but it’s not the tree owners’ responsibility unless the tree was in a dangerous or neglected state. If the fall was caused purely by bad weather then it’s an act of God. The landlord, OP and her neighbour are all equally responsible for moving the parts of the tree on their own land.

I'd make it very clear to the letting agent that you cannot get to work without your vehicle that is now trapped by their tree, (their tree, their responsibility, and I'm guessing they can't prove they've been checking the condition of their large tree regularly), and you cannot afford alternate transportation. You will be filing a claim for lost wages if you can't get to work, or transportation costs, etc against their home owner/insurance company so they need to get on it.

Not the letting agencies’ responsibility beyond contacting the landlord, which they’ve told OP they are now trying to do. So many people not aware of the laws around Acts of God. If the tree was healthy and the weather was wholly responsible for the fall, the landlord isn’t legally responsible for clearing up anything other than their own property. Rather than waiting for a response, OP and her neighbour would be better contacting her own home insurers and then arranging for the parts of the tree on their land to be sorted out.

Do you not have house insurance? It's on a shared drive, you become equally responsible, not were the tree was planted, unless negligence can be proven, which you'd need the legal side of your insurance.

Actually that does happen where I live. One of the local guys would be there with his chainsaw and trailer within the hour!

If you've got a selection of screwdrivers and spanners you could dismantle your car bit by bit until it's light enough for you and your friends to lift over the trunk maybe?

Alternatively, a hammer and chisel would allow you to remove some bricks in your house walls then drive through and out the back gate.

Another option is to remove the fence on your boundary and drive through and out the other neighbours property.

You're really not making enough effort OP.

😂😂😂👏

That what my earlier post was about. It's landed on a shared driveway. It isn't difficult to Google the law around this. The OP should have phoned her emailed her insurance, or contacted her own landlord. Posters always spur OPs on, to act in a way that will get them nowhere.