Dispute with neighbour over tree
My neighbour has been nothing but problems with his tree for the past year....well longer. I told him for a few years that his tree was way over encroaching onto my property and onto my roof etc..actually put a letter in his mailbox years ago when he was out of town telling him about this issue and also his improperly affixed eaves that leaked excessively and the boards he placed at side of his house cause of this which directed water to my foundation and flooding my basement. He opened the letter and put it back into my mailbox. I had to eventually call By-law and they came out do to improper drainage. Neighbour pounded two eaves nails in and removed his boards - 5 minutes work and my basement has been bone dry since. A simple five minute fix to be done which resulted in months of leaking in my basement. So ya, that's the kind of irresponsible homeowner he is.
Last July a HUGE limb fell onto my house and car causing approximately $10k in damage. He laughed it off in a text and said your insurance will take care of that. The tree limb came off on a quiet calm night and visible sing of oozing and disease where the limb snapped from as well as other dark/wet spots are at other limb locations on the tree. I have been pursuing this with my insurance company through their subrogation department as the tree limb came down from negligence and failure to address or notice a diseased tree. They are trying to get money from his insurance company as it was not act of god but negligence. At minimum get me back my deductible if not the approximate $10k they had to pay out to fix my house and car. It's been going on a while but the file was handed to a new guy a month or so ago who assured me he is on it and hopes for a resolution soon. If that fails I will have to pursue small claims and will go for my deductible and my time off work and the $500+ I paid to have the limb etc chopped up and taken away as well as anything else the counsel suggests.
So that's just back story on who I'm dealing with.
My problem was big windstorm other night and a couple branches of my tree came down in my yard - no damage no problem. One from his tree weakened or something but was now hanging over into my lawn so much it was touching my lawn--not just hanging above low. It was over and touching my lawn blocking use and enjoyment and free movement on my onw property. I text him to let him know as he wasn't home telling him what happened and it can't stay like that and perhaps on the weekend in a couple days we could clear it TOGETHER as its probably a 2 man job. He got back with something along the lines of "mate you're being a pain about simple branches I'll be home late and worry about it." It is right in my backyard and ON my lawn dude....AND I wasn't being a pain, I was letting him know what happened and perhaps we can take care of it in a few days etc..
So long story short (but I thought background would help) He came home that night and lobbed off the branch (I didn't notice till later after 11pm), it fell in my yard as that's where it basically was and just left it there! I appreciated him taking care of it etc and next day I went out to clean up the two of mine that fell and figured I would just take care of that one too. But I spent close to two hours doing mine in this heatwave breaking it all up and twigs and leaves and cleaning and sawing it into little pieces and was soaked through my shift so I said F this, I'm not doing his branch. It is huge--probably about 10 feet long and wide and bushy and tons of twigs and leaves. Not doing another two hours for his sh*t.
HERE'S my question: Who is responsible for this branch and limb etc. I tried Google and other searches many times and it gives vague answers and always seems to sway towards that I am asking about if I cut his branch over my fence etc. I get it already - in Ontario we can cut neighbours branches or limbs etc that hang over right up to the property line (as long as we don't damage the tree) and when we do that, we are responsible for the branch/wood/disposal. It keeps circling back to that no matter how well I try to word it that he cut the branch that is hanging into my yard not me!! In this case, HE cut the branch from his tree. I saw something in a couple of my searches. I did find some inferences that "In Ontario, the common law "self-help rule" dictates that whoever trims a tree is responsible for the waste."
I am trying to find a clear answer to this possibly even with a legit link to be able to show him I am leaning toward the answer that whoever does the cutting is responsible for disposal but want to be sure before approaching him.
Wondering if anyone out here has similar experience or knows the correct answer etc...thanks :)
I am in St. Catharines, Ontario Canada