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[glassy]

My son accidently walked through the plate glass door of his apartment. Fortunately he only suffered a couple of cuts. However it was a Saturday and when he rang the managing agent they told him to ring a number which just went to a recorded message. It was winter and cold so he got a glass repairer in and was told he had to pay the $1000 bill. We have told him he should not have had to pay. He has contacted the managing agents several times and they have (eventually )said they will reimburse him less the insurance excess. Is this correct? This happened several weeks ago and the managing agent moves VERY slowly.

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[kiwipaul]

@just get on with it said:

I have no idea how one could possibly prove that a broken glass door was caused by a rugby tackle demonstration as I am sure the resident would be unlikely to own up…

Thats why the excess should be picked up by the resident (owner or tenant) who put in the claim (assuming it’s part of their lot) to encourage them to be more careful.

Where is the sense of personnel responsibility if any damage is going to be picked up by others.

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[azur]

(NSW) Our OC recently had a insurance claim on behalf of an owner who supposedly accidently broke her cooktop and her own contents insurer advised her to claim on the OC’s insurance.  Many of the OC owners were quite surprised that a cooktop was indeed covered by the building insurance.

 

I think it quite fair that where a lot owner’s ‘fixtures’, such as the cooktop in this instance, which obviously does not form part of common property & the owner  insists on claiming on the OC’s building insurance rather than their own, then they should cover the excess. Can this be enforced ?

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[kiwipaul]

@azur said:

 
I think it quite fair that where a lot owner’s ‘fixtures’, such as the cooktop in this instance, which obviously does not form part of common property & the owner  insists on claiming on the OC’s building insurance rather than their own, then they should cover the excess. Can this be enforced ?

The cooktop is clearly lot property (even though it is covered by Strata building insurance) so why should the OC have to pay the excess (not even common property).

Tell the lot owner to cough up.

It would require a vote of the EC or OC to approve the OC covering the excess IMHO.

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[just get on with it]

The cook top is not common property so the owners corporation have no obligation (or right to) carry out the repair. The lot owner is responsible for this. They will need to engage the tradesperson direct and pay the invoice. The lot owner may choose to then lodge a claim against the OC’s insurers and once settlement is received (less the excess) the lot owner should be reimbursed the full amount of the settlement – no more no less. The only cost to the OC will be if the strata manager claims disbursements for lodging and managing claims (choose an agent with a transparent all inclusive fee!).

If too many lot owners start to take advantage of this then you may see an increase in premiums. The simple solution to this is to request that the insurers keep the premium down significantly increasing the excess payable on claims against “lot owners fixtures & fittings”.

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[glassy]

Well nearly 4 months have passed by and my son still hasn’t received any reimbursement. The managing agents have chosen to ignore his constant requests to be paid, so a couple of weeks ago he said he would contact the Rental Tribunal? The agency then contacted the body corporate who said they weren’t paying. He emailed the agency a copy of the laws which said they were responsible for maintaining common property and is still waiting. Is there some sort of time limit or any other way he can get his $1000 back sooner?

Thanks for all your interest so far.

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[kiwipaul]

I believe you should be taking this up with the owner NOT the OC. I’m not sure whether a tenant can submit an insurance claim on the building insurance (I suspect only the owner can do this).

The only thing the OC is reasponsible for is to submit an insurance claim against the (lots fixtures and fitting) Building Insurance. What is the insurance excess if is it greater than your claim if so no claim is possible.

I also suspect insurance claims have to be lodged within a certain time scale and I would suspect 4 months is well beyond that.

Your claim must be against the owner (he should be claiming on the building insurance) as it’s NOT common property but lot property.

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[glassy]

My son has all but given up on getting any of his $1000 back. The strata plan for his building was registered before balconies and windows became common property. Therefore if he is to make any claim it would have to be through the owner’s Landlords Insurance (should he have any). The managing agents refuse to contact the owner so what else can he do? It seems ridiculous as no doubt there is insurance but he cannot make contact with the owner who could then submit a claim.It’s been 9 months now so I don’t hold much hope.

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[Jimmy-T]

Take them to Fair Trading (the residential tenancies division, not the strata side).

Failing  that, raise an action at the magistrate’s court for a full refund plus costs – that might get the messages across.  

Some agents won’t pass on bad news to the landlords unless they have to.  A Fair Trading or court summons would pretty much do the trick and if your son goes along an says he didn’t want to take legal action but the agent wouldn’t do anything, he’ll get a lot of sympathy from the bench. 

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