tree fell on my car

[fritzy2]

I was at a Toys R Us in Mesa, AZ. It was somewhat windy, nothing severe. When I came out to my car, a large Palo Verde tree had fallen onto the car next to me, but a bunch of branches laid across my car as well. I took a lot of pictures of the scene and saved them. Now their risk management is saying it's an act of god and the only thing they'll do is have me fax in an estimate of repairs and "see what they can do to help". (I only have liability insurance, so my ins co won't cover) I'm trying to find out if they have any responsibility considering the tree was not staked and the branches were so thick and long (enough to stretch across two suv's and still extend a bit further). Shouldn't it be their responsibility to maintain the trees in their parking lot? Or am I just stuck with the damage, hopefully getting some consideration from them...?

Hello and sorry to hear about your circumstances. "Tree cases" like this can be rather tricky to prove up in court. Sometimes expert testimony can show that they knew of the condition (i.e. shallow roots), failed to correct it, and are liable for damages. Unfortunately, in the overwhelming majority of cases it will ultimately be chalked up to an act of God (or sometimes called an act of nature). Bottom line is that is risk management makes a fairly reasonable repair offer, you're probably doing well to accept it. If you have doubts, it would be prudent to have a lawyer review before accepting. If you go to the WLD main page, I'm sure they could refer you to someone in your local area. AJJ