"David Hill" wrote in message
...
I presume that all this wrangling over top/bottom posting is to give the
tree time to either recover or die.
Or are you all hoping there will be a reply from the insurance company in
the mean time?

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Here's an update from the OP.

I had another certified arborist come take a look at the tree. He said the
replacement value of the tree itself is in the neighborhood of $6,000, which
corresponds roughly to what the first certified horticulturist came up with.
The wound is starting to scar over and the tree may live although it is
slightly tipped from the car hitting it and may have some root stress. He
asked me how I would like a letter written up. I told him whatever he
considered a reasonable solution and would hold up in court. He said that
the insurance company would probably be able to successfully argue in court
that the tree does need to be completely replaced. To testify in court he
charges $250/hr. He said that the $500 offer from the insurance company is
probably just the driver's deductible and that they'd just be passing thru
that amount to me so that they would not have any out of pocket expense. He
recommended that the wound be trimmed and that the tree roots be spaded. He
said that Norway Maples have a much higher healing capacity than say a Sugar
Maple and that if it were a Sugar Maple, that the tree was a goner. He is in
the process of writing up a letter and has not given me an exact dollar
figure yet that he thinks this damage is worth since there is some equity
value in a tree of this size.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a