$325,000 Settlement in Mont Vernon, NH Timber Trespass Case

Year of Incident: 2023

Location: Mont Vernon, NH

Result: Pre-suit settlement of $325,000

Attorney: Israel F. Piedra, Esq., of Welts, White & Fontaine, PC

Case Summary

The Plaintiff owned a home in rural Mont Vernon, NH. A neighbor hired a logger to clear pine trees from the back of his property. Unfortunately, neither the neighbor nor the logger verified the property boundaries prior to cutting. As a result, over 45 mature white pine trees, ranging from 10 to 25 inches in diameter, were cut down on the Plaintiff’s property.

It appears that the logger and neighbor mistakenly believed that the property line was a certain stone wall in the back of the neighbor’s property. However, the neighbor’s property actually ended almost 100 feet prior to the stone wall.

Plaintiff’s counsel filed claims with both the logger’s liability insurance carrier and the neighbor’s homeowners insurance. Unfortunately, the logger’s liability policy had a “cross-cutting” sublimit that limited its insurance coverage to only $25,000 for tree trespass claims. Thankfully, the neighbor’s homeowner’s insurance policy had a liability insurance limit of $300,000.

Plaintiff’s counsel estimated the replacement cost of the felled trees as more than $380,000. In light of the significant damages and the fact that there was no real defense to liability, both insurance policies paid their limits, for a total settlement of $325,000.