Austman said “you appear to be in Victoria”
Sorry – I now see it’s NSW. None-the-less I think the Manager is right for the reasons I stated.
The part “VCAT has ruled on this – the OC generally pays any excess, but if a lot owner/resident/guest or a lot’s private property caused the damage, the lot owner can be (in fact should be) charged the excess.” is true for Victoria and likely to be similar elsewhere.