meganpepi – If you can’t get any help from the owner’s corporation insurance company then it may be worth your while seeking help from the Office of Fair Trading and the Tribunal.
As JT said, a claim of negligence may be brought against the owner’s corporation in some situations.
Negligence may be able to be claimed against the owner’s corporation by the owner if the poor condition of the roof existed for such a length of time that the owner’s corporation should have discovered and remedied the condition. There are 4 elements to be satisfied in a negligence claim: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
The Tribunal has the power to make an Order for reimbursement of costs to the owner if the owner’s corporation is found to be negligent.
The owners corporation has a statutory duty and a strict liability to the owners to repair and maintain the common property:
[s106(1)] Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 states:
An owners corporation for a strata scheme must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
[s106(5)] of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 expressly provides a lot owner with a statutory action to recover losses as a result of an owners corporation’s failure to maintain the repair and condition of common property. [s106(6)] allows an owner a time frame of 2 years to bring an action against the owner’s corporation.
SSMA 2015 Sections 106 (5) and (6) states:
(5) An owner of a lot in a strata scheme may recover from the owners corporation, as damages for breach of statutory duty, any reasonably foreseeable loss suffered by the owner as a result of a contravention of this section by the owners corporation.
(6) An owner may not bring an action under this section for breach of a statutory duty more than 2 years after the owner first becomes aware of the loss.