Charlottetown woman who lost car to tree following Fiona frustrated after trying to get it removed

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Ashley Langdon peeked exterior of her Charlottetown residence round 5 a.m. on Sept. 24.

On the time, P.E.I. was starting to really feel the total pressure of post-tropical storm Fiona, and Langdon was nervous about her boyfriend’s motorbike, which was parked beside the constructing.

A wave of reduction washed over Langdon after she noticed the motorbike was high quality. Nevertheless, that shortly modified.

“I seemed to the left (and noticed a) crushed automotive,” she stated.

Throughout the storm, the limb of a big tree in Langdon’s entrance yard had fallen and crushed her boyfriend’s Toyota Corolla. Langdon stated it additionally blocked the one entrance into their residence.

“The place it’s positioned, our entrance is on the facet of the home, so whenever you walked out the door there was instantly a large limb. It was terrifying the primary time I noticed it,” she stated.

Like many who woke as much as fallen timber on their property following Fiona, Langdon was left stumped about what to do and who was answerable for eradicating the tree.

Ultimately, Langdon pulled off just a few unfastened branches to be able to clear a pathway from her residence door, however as a result of the department was secured solely by a small limb caught on a fence, she stated she was nervous if somebody tried to take away it themselves, they may get damage.

Initially, Langdon tried reaching out to her landlord. Nevertheless, she stated she hasn’t heard from him because the tree fell on the automotive.

After being advised by a neighbour the timber belonged to town – and following the recommendation of some folks she spoke to – Langdon contacted her municipal councillor, who bought again to her the identical day and advised her to contact town concerning the Residential Property Clean Up Program.

Nevertheless, after chatting with somebody with town, Langdon stated she was not eligible for help.

“I contacted (town), they usually stated they had been unable to assist as a result of the automotive may have had insurance coverage on it,” she stated. “At that time, the automotive solely had legal responsibility (insurance coverage), however we didn’t care concerning the automotive anymore. We simply needed the tree gone as a result of it was harmful.”

Langdon was again to sq. one, questioning whose accountability it was to take care of the tree and the way she may get it eliminated.

SaltWire Community contacted the Metropolis of Charlottetown to ask whether or not it will be answerable for eradicating the department if the tree belonged to town.

In an emailed response, a spokesperson for town stated in a scenario the place a tree has fallen and brought about harm that’s insurable, eradicating it will be the accountability of the landowner, not town.

“If a tree falls and causes harm to a resident’s house, automobile, shed or different infrastructure on the property, these are thought-about insurable losses,” stated the spokesperson.

“It’s the house owner’s accountability to submit their declare to their insurance coverage supplier for these losses no matter whether or not the tree was from an adjoining public or non-public property. Tree elimination is the accountability of the house owner, and their kind of protection would dictate whether or not or not they might obtain reimbursement from their insurance coverage firm.”

The spokesperson stated the Residential Property Clear Up Program helps with uninsurable losses, corresponding to fallen timber in yards, broken timber which are vulnerable to falling and primary particles cleanup on non-public property throughout the metropolis.

For Langdon, after greater than two weeks of coping with the tree department on the automotive, she stated she was contacted by her residence’s upkeep employee, who advised her the tree department was on a ready record to be eliminated.

Then, when she returned house on Oct. 17, it was gone.

Whereas the fallen department had been eliminated, the second of reduction was overshadowed by one more irritating scenario, stated Langdon.

“We’re out of a automotive, and we’re not able to have a brand new automotive,” she stated. “We did have two automobiles, however the different one is a fuel guzzler. My boyfriend additionally has the motorbike, however winter is arising. He gained’t be capable of use it quickly, he’s already freezing within the morning.”

Cody McEachern is a enterprise reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He could be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @CodyInHiFi.