Revise your claim. Your claim should include only the value of the
tree before it was damaged, the cost of TOTAL removal (including
cutting, hauling, and grinding out the stump so that a new tree can
be planted), and the costs of submitting the claim (e.g., the cost
of the arborist's estimate). Do not include the cost of a
replacement tree (see below).

That's still not at all fair to him. That's like letting someone hit your
car, total it, and letting their insurance just tow it away. They're taking
a real-world loss to their property value by losing the tree, and in order
to be made whole, the tree should be replaced - or they should be
compensated for the loss of property value. That's not trying to stick it
to the insurance company, that's just being made whole.

I've had to deal with insurance companies of idiots who have caused me
harm and damage various times. Not in any case did the insurance company
want to even come close to an honest restitution of the damages. I didn't
ask for anything other than to be restored to what I had before their
insured party caused the damages. (I don't think that's at all unfair) In
every case, I had to fight a long, hard battle just to get that - but
luckily, so far, I've been able to eventually drag it out of them.

If I were the person who caused the accident, I'd probably feel
differently. But as an innocent victim, I have a hard time accepting the
fact that I should just bend over and take a loss just because some
insurance company feels like pocketing a little more money that quarter.

steve