#18819
adriantazza
Flatchatter

    azur said 
    A very timely topic as it currently affects our strata scheme.

    We have a rear fence that is required to be replaced due to damage sustained solely from the back neighbour’s tenants who constantly overshoot their parking spaces and allow rubbish to mount against the fence.  This is the second fence that has been damaged beyond repair in 16 years. 

    At the AGM, the OC agreed that a new fence is required and the strata manager advised that we can claim it against our insurance so we would only be up for the cost of the excess – this was the only option given to us aside from covering 50% (the rear pty owner to pay the other 50%) of the total fence cost out of OC funds.  After a colleague explained that the Dividing Fences Act 1991 regulates neighbours’ responsibilities towards dividing fences and there is provision where the dividing fence needs rebuilding or repairing because of negligent or deliberate damage caused by an adjoining owner (or by a person entering the land with their permission) that owner is liable for the entire cost of restoring it to a reasonable standard.

    When I asked the strata manager why the OC was not advised as per the above, she dismissed it as a rather long & convoluted process to get the rear pty owner to pay for the entire cost of replacing the fence even though we have records going back over 16 years and photos of the current fence where it is clear that the damage was caused from the rear pty’s side – she then said that she would charge the OC $600 in order to represent us & this would effectively negate any benefit.

     

    What is obvious from the above is that the strata manager does not care about what is in the OC’s best interests – it is easier for her to claim the fence on our insurance & the OC then carries the risk of the effect on claims history and the possibility of increasing our premiums and excess in the future from which the strata manager will benefit because of the commission structure so an obvious conflict that I can see no way of effectively managing in terms of acting in the OC’s best interests.

     

    There will always be unscrupulous strata managers out there (as in every industry, there are people of this nature just waiting in the wings) but it sounds to me like your particular manager is just exhibiting signs of laziness rather than any particular desire to pocket an additional sum of money, that may be earned by your Strata Plan’s insurance premium increasing by a rather nominal amount due to a claim being submitted and paid by your insurer.

    You do realise that most insurance premiums are on the increase irrespective of whether claims have been lodged or not, I hope. If you are unaware of this fact, simply review your claims history in line with the documented premium increases for your Strata Plan’s policy for an idea. 

    Anyway, this particular case reeks distinctly of laziness rather than anything more sinister lurking in the bushes. I suggest your OC reviews its options with respect to obtaining new management, perhaps a company slightly more proactive and willing to take an extra step for the OC. 

    Looking at the broader picture related to this whole insurance debacle, I am not sure where the Strata Managers became the big bad wolf in all of this. The insurers have elected to use Strata Management companies to complete work that they would otherwise be paying their own staff to undertake. 

    I wish you all copious amounts of luck in actually achieving a decrease in your Strata Plan’s insurance premium if Strata Management commissions are banned. It simply won’t happen. The money that is paid to strata managers will be directed elsewhere – unless of course the collective ‘you’ believe that the insurers will suddenly find a cheaper labour force to complete their work for them and thus pass on these enormous savings to their customers. I mean, it’s not like insurers desire to make money out of this business. Right? Hmm. 

    I suggest these efforts be directed elsewhere, at the actual problem. I hazard a guess that the problem is a lack of education, of understanding, and entirely of the ignorance-of-many (despite the best of intentions) gaining momentum. 

    I watch on with bated breath.