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We live in a townhouse which has recently had a sink hole appear in the back pavers which involved plumbers pulling up the pavers and finding two broken storm water drain pipes which they replaced. The next door neighbour also had a drainage problem which the plumbers also fixed. The pavers in both lots needed to be replaced and this involved a paving firm being engaged. The total amount for each townhouse including plumbers and pavers was considerable. I asked our Managing Agent if he had claimed on our insurance for the work involved and his reply was it was not an “unforeseen” matter!
I do not quite understand his reasoning, the building is 24years old and surely this was an unforeseen matter? Can we as owners insist the Managing Agent file an insurance claim?
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Isn’t it strange that every hole in the ground is now described as a “sink hole”!
Notwithstanding that if the paved area is part of your lot and/or if the stormwater pipe serves only your lot then the repairs could actually be your responsibility, the Owners Corporation’s building insurance covers only defined events with the emphasis being on that last word (i.e. “event”), which implies a coverage for point-in-time incidents and not for subsidence arising from the gradual deterioration of an asset such as the stormwater pipe in your 24 year old Plan.
So in my opinion your Strata Manager’s advice is correct, although that’s not to say that the Owners Corporation could not instruct them to submit a claim to its Insurer for determination.
I think Whale is correct. If the pipe is a tributary of the main pipe and it only services your lot then a fault in that pipe, and further damage as a consequence of the fault, is most likely maintenance that is your, the lot owner’s, responsibility.
I think insurance would only cover it if the damage were due to a specific event eg. the pipe was damaged by some event causing the stormwater to escape the pipe and erode the ground; just becoming leaky after 24 years of wear and tear is not an event.
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