How to Choose a Tree Service in Andover: Insurance, Credentials and Red Flags

Why does the choice matter so much?

Tree work is some of the most dangerous work done on a residential property. Crews climb with running saws, lower heavy wood over roofs and work near power lines. When it goes wrong, the damage lands on your house, your neighbor’s car or a worker in your yard. And bad pruning doesn’t always show right away: a tree that’s topped or stripped of its inner branches can look tidy for a season, then decline or grow back weaker than before.

Because there’s no state license for tree work in Massachusetts, the difference between a professional company and an unqualified one comes down to insurance, training and how they plan to do the work. These are all things you can check.

What insurance should a tree company carry?

Ask for two kinds of coverage:

• General liability insurance, which pays for damage to your property or a neighbor’s if something goes wrong.
• Workers’ compensation insurance, which covers injuries to the crew. Massachusetts requires employers to carry it. If an uninsured worker is hurt on your property, you could face a claim.

Ask the company to have its insurance agent send a certificate of insurance directly to you, rather than accepting a photocopy. Check that the policy is current, that the company name matches, and that the coverage covers tree work.

Which credentials mean something?

Credentials show that someone on the crew has studied tree biology and safe work methods and passed an exam:

• Massachusetts Certified Arborist (MCA), awarded by the Massachusetts Arborists Association, with a focus on trees, pests and practices in this state.
• ISA Certified Arborist, from the International Society of Arboriculture, which requires an exam and ongoing education.
• Line-clearance training, if the job involves trees near wires. Only trained workers should prune within 10 feet of overhead lines.

It’s fair to ask who on the crew holds the credential and whether that person will see the tree. The certified arborist doesn’t need to make every cut, but someone with that training should decide what gets cut.

What should a good quote include?

A verbal price leaves room for disagreement. A written quote should spell out:

Getting two or three quotes for a big job is reasonable. When prices are far apart, compare the details: the cheap quote may leave the wood and the stump, or plan to remove far more of the tree.

How should a tree be pruned?

Ask how the company prunes, and listen for these answers:

• They follow ANSI A300, the national standard for tree care, and make cuts at the branch collar rather than flush to the trunk or leaving stubs.
• They won’t top trees. Topping cuts the main stems back to stubs. It starves the tree, invites decay and leads to weak regrowth. A company that offers topping as a routine service doesn’t know trees.
• They don’t use climbing spikes for pruning. Spikes wound the trunk with every step and are only appropriate on a tree that’s being removed.
• They don’t remove too much at once. Taking out more than about a quarter of a mature tree’s leaves in one visit stresses it.
• They time oak pruning around oak wilt. In Massachusetts, oaks should be pruned from November through March. See our guide to the best time to prune trees in Massachusetts.

What are the red flags?

Most problems show up in the first conversation.

• Door-to-door offers after storms, especially from out-of-state trucks. After a nor’easter or ice storm, crews travel in looking for quick cash jobs. Some are fine, many aren’t, and they’re hard to find later if something goes wrong.
• Pressure to decide on the spot, or a price that’s only good today.
• Large cash payments up front. A deposit for big jobs can be normal, but full payment before work starts isn’t.
• No written quote, or a quote that just says "trim trees."
• Offers to take the wood as payment, which usually means the wood is worth more to them than the work.
• No questions about what’s under the tree, such as septic systems, wires, gardens or a neighbor’s roof.

Our guide to preparing trees for nor’easters covers what to do after a storm, including how to document damage before hiring anyone.

What local knowledge should they have?

A company that works in Andover regularly should be able to tell you:

• Whether your tree may be inside a wetland buffer zone, and that the Conservation Department should be contacted first. Our guide to tree removal rules in Andover explains when that applies.
• That a tree near the street may be a public shade tree under the town’s tree warden.
• Which local pests matter for your trees, such as emerald ash borer in ash and hemlock woolly adelgid in hemlocks.
• How they’ll handle access on tight lots, such as those around Andover Center and Shawsheen Village, where wood often has to be lowered by rope and carried out.

Questions to ask before you hire

1. Can your insurance agent send me a certificate of liability and workers’ compensation insurance?
2. Who on the crew is a certified arborist, and will that person look at my tree?
3. What exactly will you cut, and how much of the tree will be removed?
4. How will you protect my lawn, driveway and gardens?
5. What happens to the brush, wood and stump?
6. Do any town or wetland rules apply to this tree?
7. When will the work be done, and how long will it take?

For the type of work involved, see our tree removal and tree trimming pages, or read about us to see how we work. For a planning number before anyone visits, our tree removal cost estimator gives a price range in under a minute.

Choosing a tree service: FAQs