Body corporate insurance where there is no common property

I'm about to bid on a reproduction terrace house in Melbourne that is the middle one in a row of three. Its on a strata title but the body corporate has never been active. It shares a party wall with the properties on either side, which is shown on the title as the boundary of the property. However, there is no common property as such marked on the title.

It seems to me that there is no point activating the body corporate just to get public liability insurance on the party walls. And I'm not even sure we could, as they are not technically common property.

I assume a regular individual insurance policy would have to cover the side walls, even if they are shared. Has anybody else comes across this type of situation? :confused:
 
No but the block we have just bought is set up the same way. 3-4 acres subdivided into 18 blocks so we are 17/No Street name. It is a bit hard explaining things to the gas people for instance. The bc is set up on the road and street lighting and probably will never be needed, but would pay for any holes in the road or light bulbs changed i would gather. Our title is set up with a little cut out for the light pole to sit on (other half is on the block next door).
 
Owners corporations (formerly body corporates) are automatically created when a plan of subdivision is registered in Victoria.

Active or not, by law in Victoria a vendor cannot sell a property covered by an OC unless certain information about the OC is contained in the contract.

Section 60 of the OC Act requires all common property to be insured under a PL policy for at least $10 million. Not having PL insurance exposes the OC members to a claim in the event the wall collapses on someone or something.

Compulsory or not, I'd always recommend taking out insurance - it'd be a relatively minor amount to pay for peace of mind once it's split equally among the OC members. If the property is an IP, that amount will be tax deductible too.

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Question about Body Corperate in common property

I need some help here. This morning i got the owner of the next door of my property approach me about i should paid half of his residential strata insurance.
My situation, I own my property about 13 year and since i own it, i know my property is strata title but i never paid body corporate or anything since is not active and there is only 2 unit in this strata title, that my self and the next door. He own next door property as an investment. I had my own insurance all the time that i own the property and i pay for my maintenance and he pay for his maintenance.When he ask me to pay half the insurance and gave me a receipt or some information about the amount due and what cover, i was show that is just his own unit house and also cover of loss of rent, but i live in my own property there is no tenant in my property.
So i am not sure what to do, Can anyone give me some idea.
 
It is quite common where there are only 2 units (or duplexs) to not have a Body Corporate formed and for each unit holder to take care of their own insurance and maintenance etc.

Your neighbour, if he wants to obtain strata insurance, would need to do so to cover both units, not just his alone. I assume he would also need your vote on both doing so and the choice of insurer, which he has not got.

He has no chance an all counts from what I can see.
 
Do you think that i ignore his request of paying the insurance? My partner pass away last year and i might think that he want to bully me as i am just a young girl without any knowledge. He said to me that he had no chance to speak with my late partner in the pass 10 years. I was thinking, my late partner is at home all the time. He work at home. Why he approach me now but not in the pass.
 
Just tell your neighbour you have your own insurance which you have already paid for. Anythingt he does is at his own expense unless he has your prior agreement.
Marg
 
Will i get in to trouble, like he sue me or anything. I know he is a lawyer and i don't think he need a lawyer to help him but i do if necessary. I don't want to spend anymore money on legal as i had spend so much money on the legal battle with my late partner's brother for the estate that my late partner left to me and i experience before solicitor or barrister know how to rip me off when it come to legal expenses.
 
Will i get in to trouble,
No, not in my opinion.

...like he sue me or anything.
You cannot stop anyone from attempting to sue you....you just have to defend yourself if that ever happens.

Perhaps it would be best to have a conversation with him where you ask him where he gets the idea, that you should be paying half of his insurance costs. Maybe there is just a misunderstanding?
 
I am just wondering, my property is strata title property and is there a must my property to have residential strata insurance or normal residential insurance will do?
 
My late partner always look after everything, this is the first year that i manage everything by my self, that is why i ask. I have look through the history record from the file that my late partner kept and is a normal insurance.
 
Public liability insurance - strata

I think I am in a similar situation to some of these posts and have been pretty confused by the entire scenario.....any advice would be appreciated!

Basically I purchased a unit that is one of three that were built on a larger block (now subdivided). I have the end unit (on the corner) and the units are separated by garages (one wall shared only in my case).

Upon purchasing the property the owners corp certificated stated that the owners corp is INACTIVE, save for public liability insurance. Judging by the renewal date on the policy (51 weeks from advertisement date) that was in the vendor's name only I assumed that the vendor only took out the PL insurance for the purpose of selling the house and that prior to the sale listing there had been no PL insurance on the strata.

After a few weeks scratching my head and getting no real clarification from either our settlement agent or PM, we contacted the other owners (through their PM's) who advised they only had their own premises insured, with no provision for common ground.

I guess my question is WHAT CONSITUTES COMMON GROUND? The only common ground that appears to be outside of each property is the nature strip (am I correct in assuming this is council property and therefore not my responsibilty to insure?).

To be safe my partner and I took out PL insurance for the entire strata block, hence covering not only our bums but also our neighbours. A small price for peice of mind, however I am curious as to whether or not the neighbours are legally required to split the cost with us, as it is stipulated in the Owner's Corp Certificate that it must be inplace. Also, should they refuse to pay (wouldn't bother pushing the issue as not a huge amount and we are interstate so don't want the hassle), are we able to claim the entire amount as a deduction or only 1/3 of the premium?

Thanks!
 
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