Whats the biggest ins claim youve ever made?

[tree md]

I doubt you get many takers on this thread. I've had zero claims in 20 years. knock on wood. Worst damage I have done is tear a power head off a wall when I hit a service drop, broke a sliding glass door while grinding a stump (well my help did it but I was responsible for it) and took out a couple of fences. All of which I either repaired myself or paid out of pocket to have it taken care of.

One of the guys I used to work with back in the 90's turned a crane over on a large outbuilding that housed several antique cars... I'm sure that was a bad day all around.

 

[lone wolf]

I work for a comp company and have seen quite a few for arborist. There's been many fatalities but those are relatively cheap. The most expensive claim I've seen for a tree care worker was around 5-6 million. They worker was electrocuted, had extensive burns and seems he had to have a limb amputated.
The most expensive single claim I've ever seen was a off duty police officer that was working a fireworks show. He was inside the cab of the truck that was carrying a load of commercial fireworks that accidentally went off and was burned severely. Words cannot explain how bad he was burned and disfigured...he lost his eyes, all facial features, ears and just about ever bit if skin on his body except what was in his leather boots. The worst part was when they took some of the bandages off, his wife started crying, said she couldn't look at him, she was leaving him and taking the kids, which were still pretty young. He's bed ridden and requires 24 hour care for the rest of his life. Last I checked, the reserves were set around 18 million.
A close second was a worker wearing loose clothing got sucked into a stone crusher and lived. He requires 24 hour care and last time I checked, reserves were around 15-16 mil.

That no good female dog!!!

 

[ForTheArborist]

opcorn:

 

[pdqdl]

FTA; you started this thread. Got something to confess?

:msp_scared:

Maybe just a close call that got you thinking, hmmm?

 

[jefflovstrom]

FTA; you started this thread. Got something to confess?

:msp_scared:

Maybe just a close call that got you thinking, hmmm?

Thinking the same--:msp_confused:

 

[ForTheArborist]

It's hard to explain to people never up there. It's always a close call, always, and that's just something you get used to.

Now why did I start this thread? I was wondering wth the prices are so high on insurance. High prices must equal bad streaks of the worker hangings and what not, eh? Not the case after reading here on this thread and really AS history in general. Who knows though?

The only thing I've done to me in the biz is cut slice my knuckle on through the cartilage as I was scraping the cork gasket off of my valve covers one night. I had it stitched, put a brace on it, and I was still climbing in leather gloves and all with one finger pointing ahead. Any bump on that finger, and there would be a raging howling out of me. hahaha I'm a loud cat. If it hurt me, it would have curdled you house kittens.

Other than that I lost control of a 10 foot trunk that was leanin odd, and it popped a fence that was 2ft. away. I fixed it personally, and I get call backs there on a regular basis. Oh, n there was the time I popped a gutter off of a dumb little awning. The hill was goofy, the back of the truck was high, and the awning was way out there like no one else's awnings. I fixed it. The cheap skates never call me back anyway...:msp_thumbdn:

Really I always do awesome when I'm up. Just the other day I had a senior from Oregon that used to be on the logging teams there, he told me a few things. He watched me do a screwy mac nut tree between two wires and the house. I thought he an odd ball for watching the whole event. I rock n rolled through it like nothing you guys ever see where any of you work. I have to admit it. He was literally amazed at what I must call a live event, and he was like I say, a man of the trees no **** no ****. Sooooo, no question about what's under this hood, gentlemen.:rocker:

What matters is I'm insured. It keeps the women in a peaceful mood.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Dude, you are a joke and you ain't fooling nobody!
Jeff

 

[lone wolf]

Thinking the same--:msp_confused:

Yup same here!

 

[lone wolf]

Dude, you are a joke and you ain't fooling nobody!
Jeff

I beg to differ he is fooling somebody
himself:msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin:

 

[tree MDS]

Dude, you are a joke and you ain't fooling nobody!
Jeff

Boy ain't that the truth! Between him and his dad (over in the what'd ya do today thread) mucking up the place, things are really going south around here lately.

Talk about pretenders. It's people like this are the reason the private treework market sucks ass! Every ********** under the sun thinks he's a treeguy these days!

 

[lone wolf]

So posing for the action what did you break?uttahere2::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[tree MDS]

So posing for the action what did you break?uttahere2::hmm3grin2orange:

I preffer "For The Bath House Action", but that works too!

 

[ForTheArborist]

Lol,.....nothin to it.:msp_thumbup:...nothin to it.

 

[pdqdl]

The only thing I've done to me in the biz is cut slice my knuckle ...

Well, since you are doing a full confession, I will reciprocate.

I have buried one climber. This was a full fledged, on the job fatality. Another time, one of my lawn workers grabbed the wrong chainsaw (no safety brake, and I told him to take the 009!), and damn near cut his face in two pieces trimming weed trees out of a chainlink fence. That was expensive. Apart from that, we have had about 30 stitches from chainsaw cuts in the last 25 years. Myself, apart from a couple of broken ribs incidents, I have never gotten more than a scratch doing tree work

Liability claims: none, except for an $80,000 damage claim for cutting some underbrush off a lady's yard in exchange for using her property to access a billboard. She denied ever talking to us.

*****************************************************************
By the way: if you think it's always a close call, you are doing it wrong. Done right, tree work should mostly be safe when done carefully and properly.

Today, we dropped two 85' Ailanthus trees into a 28' wide drop zone. It wasn't close, it was easy. We took our time, trimmed the wide branches off, gunned the sights on our face cut carefully, and dropped them in. I did the first, dead center, with at least 8 feet on either side. My climber was a bit off to the side, but he still missed the parked truck while I stood at the end of the drop zone and enjoyed the breeze. I knew exactly where it would fall, and I was at least 15' beyond. It wasn't close, I was just catching the only breeze on a hot day.

You should be living to enjoy the mastery of your trade, not the adventures caused by any lack of skill thereof.

 

[tree md]

I haven't had a really close call in years and it is a rare occasion for me. I always know exactly where a piece is going before I make a cut. The guys who stick around this business are the ones who take caution and do not risk life, limb or property... Yes there is always risk but the smart hand has been in enough situations to evaluate risk and not make close calls...

Just my .02

 

[jefflovstrom]

I am tired of eating popcorn and I am wondering why anyone would respond to this stupid and ridiculous thread started by a ---aaa- well, you know.
Jeff

 

[lone wolf]

I am tired of eating popcorn and I am wondering why anyone would respond to this stupid and ridiculous thread started by a ---aaa- well, you know.
Jeff

Why entertainment value of course.I like a good comedy.

 

[pdqdl]

Entertainment, naturally!

I'm sure if we get a few confessions rolling, ol' FTA has some good stories for us. Certainly, other members do too.

It stands to reason that this forum of huge-ego toting tree trimmers would only confess to being perfect and never having any claims. I like a disaster story as well as the next guy, so I thought I would start the ball rolling.

 

[ForTheArborist]

pdqdl, that is why HOs really appreciate the fact that we are insured. And that 80k is a prime example of why all of these agreements out here need to be down in writing. Train wrecks like that undermine reputability. Even if you were scammed, the mark is in writing.

Yeah, you have it right about the close call thing. It's relative, and to the majority of the world this work is always so close to the edge... That's why they hire the athletes of the trees, or they risk it all because tree work is always a close call.