Fallen tree damage? Who pays is rife with ifs, ands, and buts

The Town of Acton has historically budgeted $50,000 annually to plant up to 250 trees in order to maintain the town’s canopy when trees are lost to storms or disease, according to Aaron Miklosko, interim public works director.

But what if one of those trees crashes onto your property, damaging your house, or your trees? Are you covered? 

That partly depends on the health of the fallen tree in question. 

Annie Gray was asleep in her Bedford Street home in August 2025 when a racket startled her awake at 5:30 in the morning. 

A giant oak owned by the town — some four feet in diameter at the base, according to Gray — had toppled onto her property, taking out at least two of her trees and part of a fence.

“It was terrifying,” she said. “I was pretty shook up.”

Gray’s mood turned from “pretty shook up” to exceedingly upset when she found out the town’s insurance would not cover her loss. Why not? Because the oak in question was healthy, and the damage it caused could be chalked up to an act of nature. 

‘Absence of negligence’

The town’s insurance kicks in only if a tree is diseased or compromised in some other way — and the town fails to recognize the problem and take care of it — according to John Ouellette, a spokesperson for Acton’s insurer, the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association.

Proactive steps are crucial for property owners. 

“The town could have liability exposure if the town negligently maintained the tree or knew the tree was unhealthy and failed to take reasonable action,” Dan Lampke, a Boston-based litigation attorney, said in an email. He cited a 2018 decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that reaffirmed a longstanding law that if your property is damaged by a neighbor’s healthy tree, you don’t have a legal leg to stand on.

Ouellette echoed that stance. He said that because there wasn’t any sign the tree was a hazard in Gray’s case, the town is off the hook.

“While we understand the impact this incident had on the property owners, the claim was denied based on the absence of negligence on the part of the town,” Ouellette said in an email.

Restoring the canopy

Public Works’ Miklosko said the town would plant new trees to make up for the tree canopy lost when the oak came down on Gray’s street.

In a letter to The Acton Bridge, Gray sounded what she called an “alert” for Acton property owners with town trees abutting their property.

“I highly recommend registering a formal concern or complaint with the town regarding any of these trees,” Gray wrote.

Miklosko says the town stays on top of its trees, having taken a complete inventory in 2017 and regularly making site visits, based on public outreach, to check for visible defects. 

Just how extensive is the tree problem? Complaints to the town are one measure.

Town Communications Manager Donna McIntosh said on July 27 that for fiscal year 2026, according to the town’s insurer, six tree-related complaints had been received.

“Four were closed without payment. One was closed with payment, and one is still open. This [is] all the information I have,” she said in the July email. Nothing had changed as of September 8, she told The Bridge.

McIntosh was not immediately able to confirm whether it was a town tree that came down on a car on Church Street with three people inside in May. She did say that no claim has been filed with the town regarding that incident.

“We always encourage community members to report any trees in the public way that appear unhealthy directly to the tree warden at Acton Public Works so our staff can investigate immediately,” McIntosh emailed.