[MRM]

It doesn't matter whether the tree was leaning over your property before the storm. All that matters is that it used to be on the neighbor's property and it landed on yours. This isn't a fault-based claim. It's more like a first party property damage claim. His tree damaged your property. That's all the analysis the insurance company will do. After that they just figure out the cost to repair or replace and order the check.

As a practice pointer, homeowners insurance typically excludes damage to vehicles. If a house burns with a car in the garage, the insurance on the home usually excludes the vehicle in the garage. That's why it's so important to keep comprehensive coverage on a vehicle that's being stored. If something happens to it it's not insured unless there is insurance on the car itself. Here Fred's homeowners insurance probably excludes damage to vehicles, even though storm damage to anything else (furniture, personal property, the structure itself) is covered. But his neighbor's insurance has to cover it because it's different because the exclusion applies only to the policy holder.