Is it normal to get a check like this without an adjuster?

We had a few trees fall in our yard during a hurricane, but they didn’t hit the house. We filed a claim with our homeowners insurance, and my boyfriend spoke with them once on the phone over a week ago. After that, they wouldn’t return our calls. We never had an adjuster come out, but we just got an email saying the claim is closed, and they’re sending us a check for $2500. Is this typical? I’ve never dealt with homeowners insurance before.

(We already paid $1600 to get the trees removed, and they never asked for any receipts. This just feels kind of strange.)

Sounds like you might have had a $2,500 limit for tree removal, and they just sent a check for that amount. Sometimes, smaller claims get handled this way so they can focus on bigger ones. Not saying it’s okay they didn’t return your calls, but when there’s a lot of claims, it can get overwhelming.

@Sky
Exactly. They’re probably swamped with bigger claims, so they just cut the check and moved on.

Teegan said:
@Sky
Exactly. They’re probably swamped with bigger claims, so they just cut the check and moved on.

Yeah, that’s what I figured. With all the claims from the hurricanes, I guess they’re just trying to keep things moving. Honestly, I wasn’t even expecting to get anything.

Teegan said:
@Sky
Exactly. They’re probably swamped with bigger claims, so they just cut the check and moved on.

During big catastrophes, our motto was always ‘overpay and close.’

Honestly, I’m surprised you got anything at all. Usually, tree removal is only covered if it causes damage to your property. Count yourself lucky.

Marcell said:
Honestly, I’m surprised you got anything at all. Usually, tree removal is only covered if it causes damage to your property. Count yourself lucky.

A lot of policies do have debris removal with a set limit. If they saw your photos, the adjuster probably just sent a check for the max limit and moved on.

At my company, we’re allowed to do this if there’s no damage to the house. Given how many ‘tree on lawn’ claims there are, they likely increased the limit on what agents can approve.

@Noe
Yeah, but I’ve never seen it where debris removal didn’t need to be triggered by some other property damage. It’s kind of like mold coverage—you need a covered event to kick it in.

Marcell said:
@Noe
Yeah, but I’ve never seen it where debris removal didn’t need to be triggered by some other property damage. It’s kind of like mold coverage—you need a covered event to kick it in.

On some older policies (a couple of major updates ago), this was more common. The built-in limit was around $500. It’s also included on high-value policies, but those are rare.

@Noe
True, but most of the time the policy says it only covers debris if it hits a covered structure, like your house or a fence. It’s nice they handled it this way even though nothing got hit.

Vail said:
@Noe
True, but most of the time the policy says it only covers debris if it hits a covered structure, like your house or a fence. It’s nice they handled it this way even though nothing got hit.

Absolutely, it’s good for the customer, but usually, you need actual damage to trigger the coverage.

@Marcell
It can also trigger if a tree blocks a driveway, even if it doesn’t damage the driveway itself.

Ainsley said:
@Marcell
It can also trigger if a tree blocks a driveway, even if it doesn’t damage the driveway itself.

Good point. That’s true as well.

Ainsley said:
@Marcell
It can also trigger if a tree blocks a driveway, even if it doesn’t damage the driveway itself.

Yeah, three of the trees were blocking our driveway.

Palmer said:

Ainsley said:
@Marcell
It can also trigger if a tree blocks a driveway, even if it doesn’t damage the driveway itself.

Yeah, three of the trees were blocking our driveway.

That makes sense then. That might be why they approved it.

Here’s a sample policy that shows similar wording; your policy probably has something like this but with a different dollar limit.

Palmer said:

Ainsley said:
@Marcell
It can also trigger if a tree blocks a driveway, even if it doesn’t damage the driveway itself.

Yeah, three of the trees were blocking our driveway.

Yep, most policies have a line saying they’ll cover it if it blocks a driveway or ramp for accessibility, even if there’s no damage to the actual structure.

@Noe
I honestly didn’t think we’d get anything, but we filed a claim just because they suggested it when the tree crew was here. I figured they just have a lot of claims from the hurricanes, so they’re moving quickly. I was kind of shocked to get that much and wanted to check if it was normal.

@Palmer
If it was just $1600, I wouldn’t have filed a claim. It’s not worth having a claim on your record for such a small amount.

Noe said:
@Palmer
If it was just $1600, I wouldn’t have filed a claim. It’s not worth having a claim on your record for such a small amount.

Exactly. Filing a claim ‘just to see’ can really mess up your rates in the long run. Over five years, you’ll probably end up paying more because this claim is now on your record.

@Palmer
You got really lucky here. Filing a claim ‘just to see’ is a quick way to make your rates skyrocket. A lot of people end up filing for every little thing and then are surprised when they can’t get coverage anymore. Always read your policy first before filing a claim unless it’s serious damage.