Ever considered a tree damage warranty?

[alpineman]

I have been thinking about putting together a tree damage warranty for over a year now. I have been asking clients their opinion but haven't asked the arborist community. What I would offer would be a one year damage warranty after we have trimmed a tree. It would cover wind and snow damage, but would exclude any disease or pest damage. I am hoping that I could charge more for the trim and then say that the warranty is free, but that might price me out of the competition for people who don't care about a warranty. The other option would be to charge a certain price for the warranty(based on the size of the tree). What are your thoughts??

 

[treeman82]

This is a bad idea. From a liability standpoint it's gonna open you up to a boat load of problems.

 

[ozarktreeman]

Have thought about tree insurance in the past myself,I agree from liability standpoint not good.

 

[alpineman]

I understand about liability, but realistically any damage caused by wind or snow(we don't get ice storms here) after a really thorough trim, would be very minimal. If I sold 100 warranties and then had to respond to 5 calls to fix brokens limbs, I feel like I would still come out on top. The warranty would not be a guarantee that no damage would happen, only that if it did, it would be fixed for free. We rarely have any previous clients call us with any damage within the next year.

 

[treeman82]

I wouldn't be concerned about the individual branches so much as what they might or might not hit. If I was a litigious homeowner who had ANY kind of damage after a storm when I purchased a guarantee, you bet your kiester I'd want that damaged fixed by you.

 

[himiler]

When I was in the air conditioning industry the sale of a warrantee or a maintenance contract was a good thing. When things were slow we could always fall back on the money that was streaming in from these contracts.
I'm believing risk assesment is probably going to be your most important tool. All kinds of companies sell any number of maintenance or insurance policies based on risk analysis. If you can protect from your worst situation by having enough reserve, then the potential for a secondary income stream is plausible. Remember this, it's not what you do or don't do, it's what your customer perceives that's important.
Steve W.

 

[alpineman]

I wouldn't be concerned about the individual branches so much as what they might or might not hit. If I was a litigious homeowner who had ANY kind of damage after a storm when I purchased a guarantee, you bet your kiester I'd want that damaged fixed by you.

That would be the kind of stuff I would be brainstorming with my attorney. Obviously I would be thinking about every possible scenario and how to write that into the warranty. I would only be interested in providing a warranty for the actual tree itself. Property damage is what homeowners insurance is for!

 

[ropensaddle]

That would be the kind of stuff I would be brainstorming with my attorney. Obviously I would be thinking about every possible scenario and how to write that into the warranty. I would only be interested in providing a warranty for the actual tree itself. Property damage is what homeowners insurance is for!

Might work but I would separate it from the work so the price shows. It would be imperative you remain in the confines of anzi pruning standards. Same with cabling and bracing but it should be that way anyhow. If you do it have a disclaimer for tornado's acts of terrorism etc. also if your recommendations are not followed as is the case in many cabling situations the warranty becomes null and void.

 

[ArborCore]

I've thought that tree insurance would be a good idea in the past b4 too... my major hangup with the idea is a lack of statistics to base the price of premiums upon.

You could get yourself in a world of $#!t if u were to sell TOO many policies @ too low of a rate and something to the effect of Katrina were to happen...

Underwriters, Lawyers, Stats, Gov. bailouts, etc... !!! ???

 

[newsawtooth]

So, you want to warranty a living thing against damage caused by natural processes? If a tree is evaluated and trimmed appropriately, most problems can be mitigated. Are you going to warranty all trees, even the rotten old cottonwood you tried to convince the homeowner to remove? Let us know what your lawyer thinks.

 

[tomtrees58]

your nuts :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[ckliff]

No warranty. If you are confident in your work, then check up on customers periodically. If something needs fixed following a trim job, just do it for no charge. The good will earned will reap benefits down the road in referrals.

 

[TreeClimber57]

So, you want to warranty a living thing against damage caused by natural processes? If a tree is evaluated and trimmed appropriately, most problems can be mitigated. Are you going to warranty all trees, even the rotten old cottonwood you tried to convince the homeowner to remove? Let us know what your lawyer thinks.

Well in theory one could warranty or insure the "rotten old cottonwood". But the question is how does one base prices, and make the policy sellable? What would be value of payout if tree simply fell down and did no damage, or is it only protecting damage caused by the tree (other than the tree itself).

Like any insurance it is a risk based cost structure, and the more you have out there to balance the risk, the lower your overall risk becomes (assuming you have the necessary clauses in policy to remove liability in case of natural disasters, vandalism, improper pruning, etc).

Getting back to the old cottonwood.. assuming one was in the business.. it is not a matter of if you would or could insure it, but how much policy would be and if person would be willing to pay the premium!

Like buying a life insurance policy on a 90 year old person.. what is the premium.. and can you afford it. May be cheaper to have the old cottonwood removed than paying the premium :hmm3grin2orange:

I seriously doubt anybody would buy a policy.. but who knows.

 

[treeslayer]

smoking the good sheet, huh? :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[TreeClimber57]

smoking the good sheet, huh? :hmm3grin2orange:

got any to share ..

 

[sgreanbeans]

smoking the good sheet, huh? :hmm3grin2orange:

I was thinking the same thing, lmao!

I wouldn't put a warranty on Mother Nature.
What if a 50ft tree uprooted a week after you trimmed it? The HO would expect you to fix it! Because obviously, you caused it (in the homeowners mind) How could you fix it? Bring in a new 50ft tree?
Lots of holes brotha, put that energy some where else!
Remember, perception is reality. You trimmed it, then it fell, your fault. In other words, If u where the HO, and you had this guy prune your tree, sells you a warranty on the the work, a week later its on the ground, what is the first thing your gonna do, call the Arborist who warrantied his work and expect him to come take care of it. That little bit more money that you received for the warranty will not cover that. Even tho, you know its not your fault, HO's will jump at the chance to get you to do it under the warranty, and that's guaranteed!

 

[pdqdl]

Offering a warranty makes sense to me as a marketing tool. Many of our customers purchase tree trimming services because they fear that the tree will fall on their house. Logically, offering a warranty against failure would have a very good market appeal to your average buyer.

If all that your warranty offered was free corrective trimming for any failures that followed your services, I think it would be a sensible and low risk service to sell. You had better make sure that the customer understands that there is no warranty against the value of the tree or against liability caused by any failures, regardless of the cause.

 

[ropensaddle]

Offering a warranty makes sense to me as a marketing tool. Many of our customers purchase tree trimming services because they fear that the tree will fall on their house. Logically, offering a warranty against failure would have a very good market appeal to your average buyer.

If all that your warranty offered was free corrective trimming for any failures that followed your services, I think it would be a sensible and low risk service to sell. You had better make sure that the customer understands that there is no warranty against the value of the tree or against liability caused by any failures, regardless of the cause.

Prolly sell more cabling jobs lol They would have to follow recommendations or lose the warranty!

 

[alpineman]

Offering a warranty makes sense to me as a marketing tool. Many of our customers purchase tree trimming services because they fear that the tree will fall on their house. Logically, offering a warranty against failure would have a very good market appeal to your average buyer.

If all that your warranty offered was free corrective trimming for any failures that followed your services, I think it would be a sensible and low risk service to sell. You had better make sure that the customer understands that there is no warranty against the value of the tree or against liability caused by any failures, regardless of the cause.

Now you are seeing where I am going with this! Health insurance has thousands of exemptions and so would this. If I trim a tree and it falls over week later, there would be an exemption for that. The warranty would only cover fixing broken limb damage! Here is Denver we don't have many uprooted trees. Most damage comes from heavy wind and snow. If I sold 100 warranties at $100-$200 each, thats a lot of extra income with no work. (assuming no trees break). But I can't even remember when a client has called me about tree damage in the first year or two after we have trimmed a tree.

 

[sgreanbeans]

I can see the exemptions, just still man, seems like alot of effort with little gain, but who knows, maybe your on too sumtin. CYA! (cover yur butokis)