Body corp + damages from common property

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  • 04/07/2011 at 1:42 pm #7486
    Anonymous

      Hi, just wanted to see what people's experiences with this particular situation is or any advice if you have.

      I live in an apartment block, own the apartment and pay my body corp fees(which are quite high!!). Cut a long story short, a sewerage pipe from another apartment cracked/burst, and saturated my carpet with sewerage discharge. Body Corp insurance is now processing the claim for repairs(holes in my apartment, repairs to the pipe, etc..) but they said their insurance explicitly does not cover carpets and my home and contents insurance should cover it.

      While my home and contents insurance probably does cover it, I don't see why I should have to claim through my insurance when the damage to the carpets is a direct result of common property issues. I'm thinking that even if the body corp insurance doesn't cover the repairs to my carpet(or replacement), the body corp itself should cover the repairs out of its own funds due to consequential damage from common property.

      I'm the one thats had to live with sewerage-drenched carpets for the last few months due to no fault of my own and I don't see why I have to be responsible for it(either out of my contents insurance or out of my own pocket if I had no insurance)

      Would appreciate any thoughts on this.

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    • 04/07/2011 at 6:14 pm #13155
      random
      Flatchatter

        Normally strata insurance only covers common property contents, i.e. carpet, tiles, paint, etc in foyers. At least reviewing our strata insurance documents recently, that seems to be the case for our building. So it doesn't surprise me that they have informed you that the strata insurance doesn't cover it.

         

        Whether the OC should pay for the replacement out of say the sinking fund then, well that's something I guess you would be best off with some legal advice about. And if that were to happen, I don't know what the situation in your strata is, but if there aren't enough funds to cover the replacement plus whatever other planned expenditures there are, your whole building may end up with a special levy.

         

        Personally, I think such issues as these would be one of the reasons for having contents insurance. And then if your insurance company wanted to chase up their costs elsewhere that would be up to them. It would certainly get fixed quicker this way. *shrugs* (Yes, I realise you will have to pay an excess, but that may or may not be more than what your share would effictively be out of common property funds (depending on your excess amount and your building size).)

        04/07/2011 at 10:50 pm #13157
        Jimmy-T
        Keymaster

          There's no question that the people responsible for the damage – the Owners Corporation in this case – is responsible for paying the bills.  But as Random points out, the best solution isn't always the right one – if your insurance covers it and it's not going to cost you anything now or in the future, then claim – it's theasiest way.

          However, if there is an excess on your insurance, you should certainly be asking the OC to cover that.

          The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
          05/07/2011 at 12:48 pm #13159
          Anonymous

            Thanks for the advice, this forum certainly does make for interesting reading.

             

            With regards to dipping into the OC sinking fund or whatever its called, I would think that this is what its there for and why I pay my body corp fees regularly anyway.  Its supposedly a premium apartment building, and we already get charged relatively high charges, and if this causes a special levy for the whole building to be charged, then I would think then that the OC would actually be doing what its supposed to do, which is to spread the cost of common property repairs and maintenance(which also includes damage as a result of common property) to everyone in the building. As the building is also quite big, 60 floors of at least 10 apartments each floor, my share of any special levy imposed as a result of this would be minimal compared to an excess I would have to fork out myself.

             

            I do agree with your advice though that easiest and fastest way would be to just claim through contents insurance and then maybe try and get OC to cover the excess(and hope my premium doesn't go up), however, I don't think that the OC should be able to get away with stuff like this if its their responsibility. Also spoke to Consumer Affairs Victoria yesterday about this, and their advice was that this is definitely OC responsibility and if they don't want to play ball, to lodge an official complaint and take it from there.  Might be worth it to do just so they realise their obligations rather than quick handball to someone else.

             

            I've already lived with this for past few months(this has been ongoing since at least october last year), and the carpet has dried up, but it still needs to be replaced/repaired, so its not like some more time trying to resolve this to my satisfaction will kill me.

            05/07/2011 at 2:00 pm #13126
            random
            Flatchatter

              Over 600 apartments, that's a lot, lot larger than the complex I'm used to dealing with. And yes, with that many apartments, your share would be minimal. I don't think I could live with the issue as long as you have already, hence why I'd personally be onto my contents insurance pronto, but since you obviously can, I will just wish you best wishes with getting it all sorted.

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