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Topic
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First post, I’m in Melbourne Victoria.
The plan of subdivision for the lot I’m looking to buy includes the roof. Needless to say this has surprised me. I understand this means I would be responsible for all maintenance, though the liability/insurance of this roof is actually what worries me.(This is NOT exclusive use, I own it as part of my lot)
I have not signed a contract yet.
How do I get insurance cover for liability? I’m specifically looking for something that would protect me if a leak damaged the apartments/common area.
If the things leaks and destroys an elevator for example (part of the roof is directly over the elevator shaft)
Needless to say all the insurance brokers I talk to suggests they will not cover this as it is “part of the building”. Um, it is part of my lot in this case.
Strata insurance is telling me the cover the roof from “insurable events”. Though the policy also says “common area” while the roof is solely owned by me.
Yeah, just a bit confused on insurance here. Is there any professionals that could help me with this?
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Given the roof is defined as part of your lot and not common property, you are individually liable for its maintenance and potentially for consequential damage to other parts of the building. This makes your situation atypical in strata ownership.
The challenge is that most building insurance assumes structural components like roofs are under the body corporate’s remit. You will likely need to obtain bespoke coverage from a broker specializing in complex or non-standard strata property. Consult a solicitor with expertise in Victorian strata law before proceeding with the purchase. This is not a risk you want to walk into blindly.
Is there anything at all on the roof? I had a deck in the roof and wheel it was removed I had to go to vcat to get it reinstated. The advice was a reputable builder would know all the safety regs and permits etc.
so having a builder report might help the insurer/insurance.
Do you know how long ago the roof was replaced?
There is a deck. The deck itself looks like it is fairly new.
That might explain why the responsibility for the roof has devolved to the lot owner. It was probably a condition for the installation of the deck.
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The initial question was how do you insure it. Firstly, there is no obligation on your part to insure lot property. If you are concerned about damage to common property from leaks from your roof, that may be covered by strata insurance in any case. The question remain, would the insurers come after you for the cost of the repairs? I think there are so many grey areas here that your real question is “do I choose to worry about this or not?”
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Don’t assume it will be easy to even get bespoke insurance for this situation. In my building, we had a claim a few years ago for a burst pipe that caused some damage. The result is that when we went looking for insurers to quote, most said they were not interested in insuring us.
I’m really peeved with the insurance industry at present. We hear stories about uninsurable properties in flood zones and so on, but we don’t hear much about insurers that simply can’t be bothered to insure someone because their situation doesn’t fit into a standard model. I’ve heard it said that you can always get insurance – it just depends on how much you want to pay. I don’t believe that any more.
(This is NOT exclusive use, I own it as part of my lot)
How many lots are affected by the roof – just your unit?
Was the roof “acquired” as part of getting the deck? If so you have a record of this?