Insured tree felling is the difference between a bad afternoon and a financial disaster. When a tall gum or pine leans over your roof, the real question is not only whether the crew can bring it down, but who pays if something goes wrong: a limb through the tiles, a cracked boundary wall, a dented car, or a worker hurt on your property.
This guide explains the two kinds of cover a tree feller should carry, what can happen to you as the homeowner if they do not, and exactly how to check the paperwork before anyone starts a chainsaw in your garden.
What can go wrong when a tree comes down
Tree work concentrates enormous forces in a small space. A green gum limb as thick as your leg can weigh well over 100 kg, and it moves fast once it is cut. In a suburban garden it is coming down near roofs, pools, walls, parked cars, fibre lines and overhead power cables.
Cape Town adds its own complications. The south-easter can gust mid-job and swing a limb off its planned line. Older properties, like many in tree felling in Constantia, often have big trees that were planted decades ago and now stand only a few metres from the house.
A good crew manages that risk with climbing, ropes, planned drop zones and limbs lowered in sections rather than dropped. Even so, no team can reduce the risk to zero. That last slice of risk is exactly what insurance is for.
The two kinds of cover behind insured tree felling
When people say a tree feller is insured, they should mean two separate things. Ask about both, because having one does not mean having the other.
Public liability insurance
Public liability cover pays for damage the contractor causes to property: your roof, your wall, your paving, your neighbour’s carport. If a section of trunk lands where it should not, this is the policy that is meant to respond, not your own pocket.
COIDA registration for the crew
The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) covers workers who are injured on the job. Employers register with the Compensation Fund and pay assessments, and in return an injured employee claims from the fund. Tree work involves heights, chainsaws and heavy falling timber, so injuries are a real possibility, not a remote one.
What happens if an uninsured worker is hurt on your property
This is the part most homeowners never think about until it is too late. If a climber falls or a groundworker is struck by a branch, someone has to pay for medical treatment and lost income. With a COIDA-registered employer, that claim goes through the Compensation Fund.
Without that registration, the injured worker and their family still need help, and they will look for whoever is responsible. As the person who engaged the crew and owns the property where it happened, you can be drawn into that claim. Even if you are not ultimately found liable, you may face months of stress and legal costs.
It is also a human problem, not only a financial one. Workers on an uninsured crew often have no safety net at all. Choosing a properly covered company protects them as much as it protects you.
How to check a tree feller’s insurance
A verbal “yes, we are insured” is not enough. A legitimate company can produce its documents without fuss. Work through this list before you accept a quote:
- Ask for the public liability certificate itself. Look at the insured amount and the expiry date. A certificate that lapsed last year protects nobody.
- Ask for proof of COIDA registration. A current letter of good standing from the Compensation Fund is the usual proof.
- Match the names. The business name on the certificate should be the same as the name on your quote and invoice. If the paperwork belongs to a different company, ask why.
- Check the cover includes the whole job. Felling, chipping, loading and stump grinding and removal all bring machinery and trucks onto your property, and each carries its own risk.
- Get the quote in writing. It should describe the tree, the method, what happens to the waste and who is responsible for clearing the site.
- Ask how they will protect your structures. Listen for a specific answer about rigging, ropes and lowering sections, not a vague “don’t worry”.
If you get excuses, delays or a promise to “send it later” that never arrives, walk away, whatever the saving.
Why the cheap quote is cheap
Uninsured operators can undercut properly run companies because you are quietly carrying their risk. There are no premiums to pay, often no proper rigging equipment, little formal training and nobody to come back to if the job goes badly.
The saving on the quote is usually small compared with the cost of a damaged roof section, a rebuilt wall or an injury claim. If one quote is far below the others for the same tree, treat that gap as a question that needs an answer. Our tree felling prices guide explains what drives the cost of a job, so you can see what a fair quote should reflect.
Insured, professional crews also tend to bring the habits that prevent claims in the first place: a clear drop zone, a climber lowering limbs on ropes near buildings, and a site raked and cleared before they leave.
Our cover on every job
Golden Tree Fellers is fully insured on every job we take on, from the first cut to the last load of waste leaving your property. That applies across our whole service area, whether it is a large gum in Durbanville or an old oak on a winelands property near Stellenbosch.
Every quote starts with a free site visit, where we look at the tree, what is around it and how it needs to come down, and you receive a written quote that includes clearing the site and taking the waste away. If you would like to see our insurance documents, just ask.
To get a quote, WhatsApp a photo of the tree to 071 799 1993 or send us your details through our contact page.