Greetings Patrice:
Plant (e.g., tree) appraisals/valuations typically require the services of a certified arborist. I, like most state agency employees, legally cannot conduct plant valuations for homeowners because it infringes upon private enterprise. Because I receive this question quite frequently, please allow me to help you, and other readers of this forum, by providing some basic information on the subject.
The majority of homeowners seek “tree appraisals/valuations” for the following reasons: insurance claims; litigation; mitigation; or IRS casualty loss reporting. Now, I am not sure if homeowners are allowed to claim an IRS casualty loss for yard trees. However, the IRS does afford forest landowners latitude for claiming “timber” casualty losses with proper documentation (e.g., a timber basis). Because all plants have “value”, there are local guides, books, valuation factors, and techniques to value or appraise trees.
Tree valuations are typically a function of size, location, species or classification, and condition. The International Society of Arboriculture publishes a guide, “Guide for Plant Appraisals” to assist homeowners and certified arborists with valuing trees/plants based upon a set of valuation factors. Now, most states have their own species ratings and appraisal factors (refer to the Illinois Arborist Association Website as an example). These state-specific species ratings and appraisal factors are used by certified arborists in Illinois to value plants. As you may have expected, I am not familiar with Texas species ratings and appraisal factors. Therefore, I suggest you contact your local Texas Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture if you need to follow-up on your question.
Now, there are multiple tree appraisal methods, but I am not going to discuss them here because it is really beyond the scope of what can be effectively addressed in this forum. However, the most commonly applied plant appraisal method I am familiar with is the “Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers Method”. Therefore, I strongly suggest you contact a local certified arborist if you are in need of an appraisal for insurance purposes.
Steps a homeowner should take: (1) contact your insurance agent or refer to your homeowner’s policy to determine if you have grounds to file a claim, (2) ask your insurance agent if they have a list of local certified arborist whom they have worked with in the past, (3) have a certified arborist conduct a valuation of the tree, (4) determine whether or not you want to, or can, file a claim based on the report provided to you by the certified arborist. If the valuation of the tree comes in under your deductible, you might want to reconsider filing a claim with your insurance company. Even if the valuation comes in higher than your deductible, you might want to reconsider filing a claim with your insurance company – this of course is based upon the assumption that your tree was damaged by environmental factors (e.g., wind, lightening, ice damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.) and not by human negligence. If plant damage was caused by human negligence (not your human negligence, but the negligence of another party), then you need to take up your claim with the insured’s insurance company.
Now, you probably didn’t expect such an elaborate response to your question. Unfortunately, plant appraisals are a little more complicated than most people think. Best of luck and thank you for your question!
