"I have been a member of the ARAG legal plan through my employer for years. I consider it the very best value in my fringe benefits package because with legal care, acting proactively is a great value.

Among the issues that ARAG has helped me address (with the assistance of my attorney) has been how to prepare for hurricanes and their potential damage. My private residence adjoins a condo property and we had a large fichus tree that was in our yard but right on the property line/fence. I was concerned about the potential for the tree to fall over into the condo’s side during a hurricane. I could only trim the tree back on my side of the fence and heavy limbs had grown over the fence onto the condo’s side where I had no legal access.

My attorney assisted me in drafting a letter to the condo association advising and asking them to cut the tree on their side as I was cutting it on mine. I was afraid that the uneven load might push the tree over into the condo property in a potential windstorm.

Unfortunately, the condo association ignored my request and not more than six weeks later a hurricane indeed came through Miami and the tree fell over onto one of the condo homes.

My first reaction was relief that I had put them on notice with the Sue’s assistance. When I reached her by phone, she was able to assure me that the fallen tree was not going to be our obligation to remove under the Florida law in particular since I had sent notice of the potential for this outcome.

The condo association instead of removing the part of the tree that fell across into their common areas had a tractor push the entire tree into our yard! We were shocked by this legal violation

With my attorney’s assistance, we were able to draft a letter to the condo association’s legal counsel and advise them that this was an illegal act and that they were still responsible for the part of the tree that had fallen on to their property which of course my attorney had advised me to photograph. With my attorney’s assistance, we and the condo association were able to come to an agreement on how to share the costs for the tree’s removal and for the repair of the boundary fence.

ARAG and my attorney enabled me to see my way through a stressful situation and bring it to a comfortable conclusion for all parties. I remain a member and I intend to continue. As is the common phrase, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ARAG allows me to get this “prevention” in many areas."

Christine Robinson
Miami, FL