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← All guides · Published July 2026 · Richard Lim

Ash dieback, East Kent hedgerows, and the property damage risk.

Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) has been in the UK since 2012 and is now endemic across East Kent. If your property has ash on the boundary, or backs onto an unmanaged hedgerow with mature ash, you should know what to look for - and what your insurer expects you to have done before a fall.

What ash dieback looks like

Ash trees infected with Hymenoscyphus fraxineus show a distinctive progression. Early signs are diamond-shaped lesions on the bark of small branches. As the disease progresses, the crown starts to die back from the tips - leaves are smaller and yellowed at the tops, the whole canopy thins over two to three years. In advanced stages, the tree drops branches without warning, particularly in wet-then-dry weather.

The key phrase is ‘without warning’. A dieback ash can look 40% healthy and drop a limb the size of a small car in the next windless afternoon. That’s what makes it different from most tree hazards.

Property-damage checklist

If your property has ash within falling distance of the house, outbuildings, garden structures, drive, or a public right of way, an insurer will expect you to have done the following. If you haven’t, and a fall damages a car or a neighbour’s property, a claim can be reduced or denied.

• Annual inspection by a qualified surveyor. Arboricultural Association or LANTRA-qualified. Written report with photos.
• Photograph the tree annually from three fixed positions. Same points, same time of year (leaf-on is best - June or July). Insurance loss adjusters read progression from photo timelines.
• Act on the surveyor’s recommendations within the timeframe stated. If the report says ‘monitor annually’, that’s a duty of care. If it says ‘fell within twelve months’, twelve months is the deadline - not twenty-four.
• Keep the report and quotes for two years after any work. Insurers may request them retrospectively after a claim.

After a fall - what to do in order

If an ash falls and damages your property or someone else’s:

1. Photograph everything before you move any of it. Wide shots, close shots, damage from multiple angles. Include the tree in situ.
2. Make the scene safe. If part of the tree is unstable, cordon off the area. Don’t start cutting yet.
3. Notify your insurer within 24 hours. Most household policies require prompt notification; some require it before any clearance work.
4. Notify Dover District Council within five working days if the tree was in a Conservation Area or under TPO. This is a legal requirement even for emergency removal.
5. Get an arboricultural report on the failure. Insurers use it to distinguish between ‘act of God’ (usually covered) and ‘negligent failure to maintain’ (usually not).
6. Only then clear. Use a qualified tree surgeon - not a handyman - for anything over a small branch. Post-fall clearance often involves under-tension timber that will spring if cut wrong.

Where a handyman fits in

We don’t do tree work. We’re not tree surgeons and won’t pretend to be. What we do handle after an ash-fall event is the property-damage repair once the tree is cleared: broken fence panels, damaged sheds, dented gutters, cracked cills, roof-tile damage where small branches have punched through. Straight handyman scope, no ambiguity.

For the tree itself, we can put you in touch with two local arboricultural firms in the CT16 area who’ve done proper work on ash dieback surveys and post-fall removals. They’re not us; we’re not on any referral commission.

The realistic timeline for a healthy-looking ash

Most mature ash in East Kent hedgerows that were healthy in 2018 are now showing dieback. The Forestry Commission’s working estimate is that 95%+ of UK ash will be affected within the next decade. If yours looks fine now, get it inspected anyway. The disease progression is often invisible in early stages, and the tree that looked healthy last summer can be the one that drops a limb next.