I did eat it. $1500. Though I am not sure I understand that appealing a claim makes rates go up when simply filing a claim does not.
You have to do what we do down here. If the wind blows off one tile off the roof you call the family for a bbq get them on the roof and have them remove an entire section. . Adjuster comes signs off on new roof and now you are ahead.
That's not bad for a tree that size, especially if it's leaning. Reminds me of a story. I had bought our first house, 1985. It had a big tree in the back yard that was about 2.5' in diameter at the base and was leaning over. Not damaged or anything like that, just the way it had grown. So one day with the help of my FIL, I decide to take it down. I shimmied up the tree, like on horse back, that's how bad it was leaning. I take the chain saw and cut off the top 1/3. Well guess what happens when you take 1/3 of the weight off a leaning tree? I was lucky as hell, that think sprang up and would have thrown me off if I hadn't managed to hang on. Probably a 12-15 foot drop.
I used to have Liberty Mutual for HO insurance. Several years ago, we had a big hail storm.... lots of roof damage in the area. I called Liberty about getting my roof inspected. They sent out somebody to check it out and reported everything was OK. They recorded the roof inspection as a "claim" even though no money was paid out. Then they raised my renewal premium from ~$3200 to $12,000. Of course I didn't accept that and found coverage elsewhere. And now if I query them for a quote in a search for lower rates, they say they won't cover my house, period!