Safety, insurance and the quote
How we work.
An insured tree service in the Comox Valley costs more than an uninsured one, and the difference is not the chainsaw. Here is what that difference actually buys you.
Before you hire anyone
Four things to ask for, in writing.
Ask all three of your quotes for the same four documents. The ones that produce them in five minutes are the ones worth comparing on price.
01
A liability insurance certificate
Not "we are insured" — the certificate itself, with the coverage amount visible and the policy in date. If a section of your tree goes through a roof, this document is the difference between a repair and a lawsuit.
02
A current WorkSafeBC clearance letter
It confirms the company is registered and in good standing, and it is free for them to request. It matters to you and not just to them: an uninsured worker injured on your property can become your problem.
03
The ISA certification number of the arborist attending
Not the company — the person who will actually be on site. Certification is verifiable at treesaregood.org in about a minute, and the number is the only part of it that can be checked.
04
A written quote that names the work
"Remove tree" is not a scope. It should say which tree, whether the stump is included, what happens to the wood, and whether a permit or an arborist report is part of the price.
The cheap quote
Why one quote is half the price of another.
Usually because one of them is not carrying the same costs. Liability insurance, WorkSafeBC coverage, certified climbers, rigging gear that is inspected and retired on schedule, and a chipper that is maintained rather than nursed — those are the expensive parts of a tree company, and they are all invisible in a price.
A quote that undercuts everyone else by half is usually a quote without one of them. That is a real saving right up until the moment it is not.
The honest version: sometimes the cheap quote is simply someone local with lower overheads who wants the work. The paperwork is how you tell the two apart, and it takes one email.
On the day
- Parking and access agreed first. A chipper needs a spot and a truck needs to turn around. We sort that at the quote, not by blocking your neighbour in.
- Anything that can move gets moved. Pots, furniture, the barbecue. If it cannot move, it gets covered or the drop zone changes.
- Hydro gets called when hydro is involved. Nobody on this crew works inside the limits of approach to a live conductor. That is not caution, it is the law.
- You get told when it is loud. If you work from home, say so and we will plan the chipper around your calls where we can.
Permits
Three municipalities, three rulebooks.
The permit question gets answered before the saw comes out, because removing a regulated tree and arguing about it afterwards is the expensive order to do it in.
| Municipality | Permit generally needed for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Courtenay | Trees over 20cm diameter at breast height | Protected species such as Garry oak and Pacific dogwood at any size; any size in environmentally sensitive areas. |
| Comox | Priority native species from 20cm, other species from 30cm | Replacement planting is generally part of the permit. |
| Cumberland | No tree bylaw at the time of writing | The Village does keep a list of significant trees. |
Checked September 2026, and summarised rather than quoted. Bylaws change and every property has exceptions — confirm the current rule with your own municipality before booking any removal. Where a permit is needed we write the arborist report as part of the job.
Ask us for the paperwork.
Highbough Tree Care would rather you asked all three of your quotes for the same four documents than took anyone's word for it.
Quotes are free, and we come and look at the tree before we price it.