Today we will talk about where to run, what to do and how to compensate for damage if a tree fell on your car.
In order to understand whether you have the right to compensation for damage, you need to get a certificate from the Hydrometeorological Center and find out whether a storm warning was announced that day? If there was such a warning, then, unfortunately, you will not be able to claim compensation for the damage.
If there was no storm warning, then, first of all, it is necessary to call the police, who must record the scene of the incident, take a photo of the incident, and draw up a report. You, in turn, need to take a copy of all these documents - they will be the basis for compensation. Secondly, you also need to independently carry out photo fixation, fix which particular tree fell on the car, its location and damage to the car.
In no case, do not sign a police report that says "minor damage" or "the owner has no claims" - this may cut off the possibility of compensation for the damage. If the police still insist on such wording, then in the explanations to the protocol you can write your version of events and list all the damages there.
Then you need to contact any, but official service station - to estimate the cost of the damaged car. As proof of your position, you need to collect checks and receipts from the service station, possibly a statement with a list of work that needs to be done.
The most important aspect is that it is necessary to find out who exactly is the balance holder of the tree that fell on the car. If this is unknown, then you need to contact the local mayor's office or village council (depending on where you live) with a request to find out who is the balance holder of a particular tree. To this request, you need to attach a photo of the tree taken by you or even a picture from Google Maps at your discretion.
According to article 25 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Improvement of Settlements", the balance holders of residential areas must independently take care of it or conclude appropriate agreements with specialized organizations.
Remember that trees are an element of urban improvement. According to clause 5.5 "Rules for the maintenance of greenery planted in populated areas of Ukraine", the following persons are recognized as responsible for a specific tree or bush:
on state or communal property improvement objects - the balance holders of these institutions, enterprises and organizations
on the territories of land plots that are set aside for construction - the developer or the owner of these territories
on vacant lots - local self-government bodies
on private estates and adjacent plots - their owners or users.
It is important to remember that it is local authorities that determine who is the balance holder of a particular tree. Therefore, it is better not to guess, but to immediately ask a question to the local authority, which will answer you in an official manner. It depends on who will be the defendant in your case.
There are two ways of recovering damages - extrajudicial and judicial.
An out-of-court procedure assumes that you collect all the documents confirming your position, send them to the alleged defendant with your claim and ask them to compensate you in a good way. Another way is the judicial procedure. To do this, you file a lawsuit against a specific defendant in court. At the same time, in this case, you can file a claim not only at the location of the defendant, but also at the place of damage.
