Hi, I have a large Pecan Tree right outside my house in a New Orleans residential area. It was hit by lightning yesterday, and a crack runs the entire lenght of the trunk from top to bottom. I already contacted an arborist to asses the damage (hopefully I can save it as I love this tree!). However, my insurance company is using a "tree calculator" to determine the value of my possible claim. My question to this forum is, should I trust the insurance company's method of assigning value sight unseen, or should I get a professional appraisal?

Hopefully I will get a timely answer, as this seems to be a slow moving forum.

I would ask the arborist you have contacted to also do an appraisal of the tree, as it sounds like the damage to the tree may warrent removal depending on the trees location.