Emergency Tree Service Response for Emergency Callouts in Exeter

If the tree is touching or close to overhead electricity lines, stay well back and treat the lines as live. Report it to the local electricity network operator through the national 105 power cut service; tree surgeons cannot work near live lines until the network operator has made them safe. If a tree is blocking a public road or footway, the highway authority or the police need to know. Neither step needs to wait for a quote.

When describing the situation in an enquiry, include what has fallen and onto what, the approximate size of the tree, whether anyone is inside an affected building, how close a vehicle can get, and photographs taken from a safe distance. That lets independent tree surgeons judge whether a climber, a mobile elevating work platform, a crane or ground-based cutting is needed, and whether the job can be made safe first and finished later.

Legal protections still apply in an urgent situation, but they work differently. If the tree is covered by a Tree Preservation Order or stands in a conservation area, work that is urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm can go ahead without the usual consent, but only as far as needed to make it safe, and the council should be given written notice as soon as practicable. Removing the rest of a protected tree once the danger has passed still needs permission. Keep photographs showing why the work was necessary.

The first visit often has two stages. Making safe means removing hanging limbs, taking weight off a structure and clearing access, often with the timber left on site. Completing the job means dismantling the rest of the tree, grinding or leaving the stump, and taking away the wood and brush. Ask whether a quote covers one stage or both, and whether nesting birds or bat roosts could affect when the remaining work can be done.

If a building, vehicle or neighbouring property has been damaged, speak to the relevant insurer early. Insurers usually want photographs before and after, a description of the tree's condition before it failed and an itemised invoice. Where the tree belonged to a neighbour or the council, record where it stood and who owns the land. A tree surgeon can describe what they found, such as decay at the base or a split fork, but liability is a matter for the insurers.

When choosing between the tree surgeons you are introduced to, ask about public liability cover and training records for chainsaw work and climbing, how the timber and brush will be removed, whether they hold a waste carrier registration, and what the price covers if extra equipment such as a crane or a road closure proves necessary.