How to Hire a Tree Service Without Getting Burned

The five questions

1. “Can I see your certificate of insurance?”

Not a business card. Not a photo of a card. The actual certificate, and it needs to show general liability and workers' compensation. Tree work is genuinely one of the most dangerous trades in the country, and if an uninsured worker is hurt on your property, that can become your liability and your homeowners policy's problem.

A legitimate company has the certificate in hand and will send it before they arrive. If someone hesitates, gets vague, or says "we're covered, don't worry about it" — that is your answer.

2. “Will you put the whole scope in writing?”

Itemized. Which trees, by location. What comes down versus what gets pruned. Whether the debris is hauled or left. Whether the stump is included and how deep. Whether the wood is stacked or removed. The total, and what would change it.

Verbal quotes are where the surprises come from. A written scope is the single best protection you have.

3. “Who is actually doing the work?”

Employees or day labor? Is the person who gave you the estimate going to be on site? Does the crew have the equipment for this particular tree, or are they planning to improvise?

You can learn a lot by asking how they intend to take the tree down. A real answer sounds like a plan — where the rigging goes, what gets protected, what order things come off in. A bad answer sounds like "we'll get it down."

4. “Do you top trees?”

If the answer is yes, or if they offer to top your tree, walk. Topping is condemned by every arboricultural standard there is. It permanently damages the tree, creates weakly attached regrowth, and makes future storm failure more likely. Companies that top are telling you what they don't know.

5. “What does cleanup include?”

Cleanup is where cheap bids hide. Get specific: are the chips hauled? The logs? Is the yard raked and blown? Are ruts repaired? Are the neighbor's yard and the street cleaned too?

Warning signs

• They knocked on your door. Especially after a storm. Legitimate local companies do not need to.
• Large cash deposit up front. A deposit on a big job is normal. Most of the money up front, in cash, is not.
• No local address. Out-of-state plates and a magnet sign on the truck door.
• Pressure to sign today. "This price is only good right now" is a sales tactic, not a business condition.
• The bid is dramatically lower than everyone else's. Something is missing from it. Usually insurance or cleanup.
• Climbing a live tree on spikes. Spikes are for removals. On a tree that is staying, it is damage.
• No eye protection, no hard hats, no chaps. A crew that will not protect itself will not protect your property.
• “We'll handle your deductible.” Depending on how it is structured, that can be insurance fraud — with your name on the claim.

Get three quotes — and read them properly

Three is the right number. But do not just compare totals; compare scopes. A $1,400 quote that hauls everything and grinds the stump is cheaper than an $1,100 quote that leaves you a brush pile and a stump.

What you should expect from us

• A certificate of insurance before we set foot on your property — just ask
• A written, itemized estimate, and the final invoice matches it
• A straight answer about whether your tree needs removal at all — including "leave it alone"
• A crew that shows up when we said, in the right gear, with the right equipment
• A site cleaned to the standard three separate customers have described as you would never know we were here