Trees Fall and Wreck Cars in Toledo
Ru Chen
· 3 min read
If
a tree falls
onto your car and no one is around to hear it, does car insurance still cover it? A woman and her husband in Ohio
had to ask this question. Twice! 
Two fallen trees in Ohio, two ruined cars
WTOL
reported on the summer storms in Toledo that led to a couple’s two beloved cars being destroyed by fallen trees. The cars sustained great damage, but luckily nobody was hurt.
In the interview, car owner DeeDee McDonald said that she could feel her house shaking around 2:30 AM. Naturally, she thought it was because of the thunderstorm at the time.
It turned out to be the impact of the trees falling onto their parked cars.
When McDonald’s husband looked out the window, he pointed out the shocking sight that two trees had fallen on both of their cars!
DeeDee’s husband’s car was called "Grandad" because it belonged to his late father. That was why the loss of the car was absolutely devastating. The car carried great sentimental value for the family.
The fallen trees were heavy and could have caused terrible damage if they had fallen on a house instead of cars, possibly taking someone’s life.
Admirably, the couple is trying to stay positive. They’ve expressed their gratitude for everyone in the neighborhood being safe.
How does car insurance cover an Act of God?
Examples include natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. On a smaller scale, this can also refer to anything from hail, windstorms, to trees falling on cars.
Typically, if you have comprehensive coverage, acts of God will be covered and you won’t have to worry about trees smashing down on your cars.
However, insurance companies may cover certain acts of God differently, which is why it’s important to review your policy details with care.
Special considerations and limitations
There are also special cases where claims won’t be successful even if your insurance has coverage for acts of God.
If your insurer decides that you did not take reasonable care to prevent your car from being harmed, you will not get any financial recompense. This helps reduce cases of fraud.
If your local government does not take reasonable measures to manage an act of God, your insurance might not help you either.
Natural disasters can be catastrophic, which is why it is common practice for companies to include force majeure clauses to limit their liability.
That means excluding certain acts of God from their coverage.
It’s not always obvious when an insurer does this because the list of exclusions in a contract can be quite long.
When it comes to natural disasters, it’s smart to get an insurance upgrade well in advance.
If an extreme weather event has just been forecast, it’s possible your insurance will deny your emergency upgrade request!
Get free insurance help from Jerry
Depending on where you live, your car may be highly vulnerable to acts of God. If you’re worried about not getting adequate coverage for your car,
Jerry
can help. Jerry is a car super-app that helps you shop for the best and most affordable insurance. Jerry does all the paperwork for you and saves the average user $879 a year!
Stay up-to-date with car insurance. Jerry lets you know when your policy is up for renewal and can take care of it for you, too.
