Insurance companies are checking roofs from the air now, and some homeowners here are getting letters asking for tree work by a deadline. Don't panic — and don't let anyone rush you into cutting.
Text David the letter → or read what it means ↓Insurance companies now use aerial photos to look after the homes they cover — mostly roof condition, and branches sitting close to the roof. When a photo shows canopy over the house, a letter goes out asking to have the trees trimmed or looked at, usually with a date on it.
It's not personal, and it doesn't mean your trees are in trouble. A photo from above is a sensible way to check thousands of roofs — it just can't tell whether a tree is healthy. That takes a look from the ground, and that's the part I add.
Don't set the letter aside — the date in it is real. But this is very fixable, and usually with ordinary, careful pruning.
NPR's reporting on this →A letter with a date on it is exactly when bad tree work gets sold. Topping and over-cutting hurt the tree, invite decay, and can create the very hazard everyone was trying to avoid.
The clearance your insurer wants can almost always be reached with proper pruning cuts.
The tree stays healthy, the roof gets its space, and your insurer gets what they asked for. Everybody's fine.
I'll tell you what it's asking for and walk the trees with you. No charge for that.
Careful clearance pruning to standard — no topping, no over-cutting. If bigger work is truly needed, I'll say so plainly and line up the right crew for it.
Dated before-and-after photos and a short written report of the work, ready to send to your insurance company. It lives in ArbKeep, the tree health-record platform we built, so it stays with your property for the next renewal, the next storm, the next owner.
Take the letter seriously — the date in it is real, so don't set it aside. But what your insurer wants is simple: the branches clear of the roof, and proof it was handled. Answering by the date with photos of the finished work is the straightforward path.
Almost never. These letters typically ask for clearance, not removal. Proper pruning gives the roof its space and keeps the tree. And if a tree genuinely is a problem, I'll tell you that plainly too.
Reading the letter and walking the trees with you is free. Pruning is priced per job after I've seen the tree, and the photos and written record of the work are included.
I'll text back between trees. Upper Arlington & surrounding Columbus neighborhoods.