Car owner fumes over fallen tree

Car owner fumes over fallen tree
Owner angered by town council's advice to file insurance claim, which could raise her premium in future. -myp; Thu, Sep 22, 2011; my paper

Left: Workers yesterday removing a tree near the Ang Mo Kio carpark where Ms Patricia Yeo's Chevrolet Aveo was damaged by a fallen tree on Tuesday.
By Sophie Hong
Claiming insurance for a wrecked car has become a nightmare for one motorist.
Ms Patricia Yeo, 37, told my paper yesterday that the Ang Mo Kio Town Council informed her husband on Tuesday that their car had been damaged by a fallen tree.
The Chevrolet Aveo had been parked in a Housing Board carpark in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, near where the couple live.
But what angered Ms Yeo, who works in the insurance industry, was that the town council had merely advised her husband to file an insurance claim.
The town council did not say whether the claim should be made against the town council or otherwise, Ms Yeo said.
She said: "I have insurance for my car but if we claim it, my premiums are going to be higher (in future)."
As the car was sent to the workshop just yesterday morning, repair costs have yet to be calculated. Ms Yeo believes it would not be a small sum.
It was raining on Tuesday but Ms Yeo's neighbours told her that there was no wind when the tree fell.
She also noted that "not a single branch" had fallen from the other trees in the area. It made her suspect that the tree fell because it had been poorly maintained.
Ms Yeo said she also saw pruning work being carried out on other trees near the carpark yesterday morning.
The tree next to the fallen one was removed as well. Workers carrying out the job told her that that tree was "unhealthy".
The Ang Mo Kio Town Council did not respond to my paper's queries yesterday.
Lawyer Lee Terk Yang said that Ms Yeo could take action against the town council for not maintaining the trees.
However, the town council would most likely cite this as "an act of god" in its defence.
"In that case, she will have to prove that the trees in the area were 'unhealthy', but it will be an uphill task since the trees had already been pruned or removed," said Mr Lee.
http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20110922-300797.html