Before the branch gets moved
The branch on the car is your best piece of evidence, so photograph it in place from several angles before a neighbor helpfully drags it off. Include one shot showing the tree it came from and the position of the car underneath it.
Then look at the glass. A branch heavy enough to dent a roof can crack a windshield or a backlight, and driving with a compromised rear window scatters glass through the interior. If the roof is pushed down far enough to touch the headliner, have it towed rather than driven.
- Photos of the branch on the car, from several angles
- The tree it fell from and where the car was parked
- Every dented panel, shot at a low angle in daylight
- Windshield, sunroof, and rear glass for cracks
- Any debris or bark caught in trim, which documents the impact
Whose insurance handles it
A falling limb is a comprehensive claim on your auto policy, the same category as hail and animal strikes. No driver is at fault, your comprehensive deductible applies, and these claims tend to move quickly because the cause is obvious from the photos.
People often ask about the tree’s owner. Whether a neighbor or a city is responsible generally turns on negligence — a known dead tree left standing is a different situation than a healthy limb in a storm — and it is a question the insurance companies work out between themselves. Filing on your own comprehensive is the faster path to a repaired car.
What roof and hood damage takes
Roofs are the hardest panel to repair well. They are broad, curved, and lit from above, so any waviness left behind shows from across a parking lot. Repairing one properly means dropping the headliner, working the metal from underneath, and refinishing a large uninterrupted surface.
We also look past the skin. A branch heavy enough to dent a roof can distort the roof rails and the pillar tops that carry them, and on many vehicles those are structural. If the door frames or the glass openings moved at all, that gets measured before any refinishing is planned.
- Roof skin worked from underneath with the headliner out of the way
- Rails, pillar tops, and glass openings checked for distortion
- Hood alignment and latch operation confirmed after straightening
- Sunroof track and drain function tested before refinishing begins
- A wide blend so the roof matches in flat, overhead daylight
Getting it in and getting it quoted
Storms bring a wave of this work into the south metro at once, so getting photos in early matters. Send the images you took at the scene and a free written estimate comes back within 24 hours, ready to hand to your adjuster.
If the car is not safe to drive, call (651) 460-9996 and we will coordinate a tow into Savage. Glass replacement goes to a specialist we can point you to; the body, structural, and refinish work is handled here with a lifetime paint warranty.
