Standard cover is often not written for tree work
Many commercial policies were not drafted with arborist operations in mind, and some exclude them. Which exclusions apply to a policy is a question of its wording.
Part of Contractors All Risk
Tree felling insurance
Tree work happens above people, property and infrastructure, and a policy written without it in mind may not answer a claim. The cover a tree felling contractor needs is , arranged around the work you actually do.
Cover is arranged by CivilSure and issued by the insurer. Every application is subject to underwriting, and what is covered is set out in your policy wording.
- Part of
- Contractors All Risk
- Written for
- Arborists and tree felling contractors
- The operations
- Felling, sectional dismantling, rope access, stump removal
- The exposure
- People, property and infrastructure
- Where
- National, Western Cape to Limpopo
We Understand Your Industry
CivilSure is a construction insurance and guarantee broker, and tree and vegetation work is one of the trades we arrange cover for. We work with businesses involved in all aspects of tree and vegetation work.
If your business does any of the following, this page is for you.
- Arborists
- Tree Felling Contractors
- Tree Cutting Companies
- Vegetation Management
- Site Clearance Contractors
- Municipal Tree Contractors
- Forestry Operations
- Landscaping Operations
Why Specialist Insurance
Standard Policies Are Often Not Written For Tree Work
Many standard insurance policies are not designed for arborists or tree felling operations. Tree work is considered high-risk and incorrect disclosure or poorly structured insurance can leave contractors dangerously exposed when claims happen.
At CivilSure, we help tree contractors properly structure insurance around the real operational risks of their work.
These are the operations a tree contractor performs. They describe the work, not a list of what any policy covers.
- Cutting down trees and sectional dismantling
- Rope access work and chainsaw operations
- Stump removal and chipping operations
- Crane-assisted removals
- Emergency storm damage clearing
- Working at height near structures and power lines
- Operations in Public Environments
The cover for tree work
Tree Work Is Insured Under Contractors All Risk
Tree felling is not a policy of its own. The cover a tree contractor needs is Contractors All Risk. It covers the works you are contracted to carry out, and it usually includes a liability section for damage and injury caused while you carry them out.
What matters is that the policy is arranged around the work you actually perform. Where the operations described to the insurer do not match what happens on site, a claim can be affected. That is the conversation to have before cover is placed rather than after.
This page is a plain language summary, not the policy. Cover is arranged by CivilSure and issued by the insurer, and every application is subject to underwriting. What is covered, what is excluded and the limits that apply are set out in your policy wording and schedule.
Liability Exposure
One Tree, Several Claims At Once
A single falling branch or incorrectly directed tree can trigger claims across several categories at the same time. Depending on what is damaged and who is injured, a tree liability claim can be a large one.
These are the kinds of loss one incident can cause. Whether a policy answers any of them depends on its wording, its limits and its exclusions.
- Damage to homes and buildings
- Vehicle damage and write-offs
- Injury to pedestrians and bystanders
- Damage to boundary walls and paving
- Electrical infrastructure losses
- Fibre and underground service damage
Even experienced arborists face unpredictable conditions, hidden trunk decay, unstable root systems, wind shifts, saturated soil and structural weakness inside trees. You cannot always see what is coming. What you can do is hold cover that is structured around the work you actually perform, and know what it covers before you need it.
The Risks You Cannot Always See
Even the most experienced arborist cannot always predict what a tree will do. Conditions change. Trees hide their weaknesses. That is why how a policy is structured, and how the work is disclosed to the insurer, matters as much as holding a policy at all.
- Hidden trunk decay not visible during assessment
- Unstable or compromised root systems
- Unexpected wind shifts during felling
- Saturated soil conditions after rain
- Structural weakness inside the tree
- Proximity to infrastructure you cannot move
Disclosure of operational risk is where gaps appear
Where the work described to the insurer does not match the work performed, a claim can be affected. We go through what your operation actually does before cover is arranged.
Tree liability losses can be severe
A single incident can involve property, vehicles and injury at the same time. What a policy would pay depends on its limits and terms.
Specialists for All of South Africa
We work nationally with businesses involved in tree cutting, tree removal, vegetation clearing, forestry support, landscaping operations and specialist arborist services, from the Western Cape to Limpopo.
We understand arborist liability, municipal contracts, estate work and the real-world insurance challenges faced by tree contractors across the country.
The kinds of tree and vegetation work we arrange cover for.
- Tree Cutting
- Tree Removal
- Vegetation Clearing
- Forestry Support
- Landscaping
- Emergency Storm Response
- Municipal Contracts
- Estate Work
Tell us what your tree work involves
We will go through the operations you actually perform, what a Contractors All Risk policy would need to say to cover them, and what it would cost once underwriting is complete. No obligation either way.