Insurance applicable to block of units

[traveller]

Wish everyone a very Happy and safe New Year .

I have just been able to put a block of units in QLD under contract. It’s a block of 5 individually titled and rented units. I have been advised and have taken up Strata Insurance with Wesfarmers Insurance for the entire block which comes with Building and Common Areas, Public Liability, Fidelity insurance etc.

My question is: Do I still need to take the Public Liability insurance as a Landlord for each individual unit? I am not too concerned about the Malicious damage, Loss of Rent etc. However I am more concerned about the Public Liability issue as the Strata Insurer has confirmed that the Public liability of the Strata insurance only covers only the Body Corporate. In this case both the Landlord and the Body Corporate is me only and thus I am confused.

Will there be any scenarios in which I will not be covered in case I only stick with the Strata Insurance?

Any help, advise will be appreciated and helpful...

 

[westminster]

I hope I have this right......

I had the same scenario - 3 strata properties and no body corporate as I own all of them. I was effectively the BC though as I controlled all maintenance etc etc.

The policy will cover you for all public liability outside of each unit but not inside - I think (this is where I get a little hazy)

I have strata insurance, building insurance and Landlords insurance.

 

[chilliblue]

Same as westminster.

Building and strata insuranceto cover the structure of the building and the externals inc liabilty.

Each individual unit has landlord insurance covering the tenancy, internals and public liability.

All with the one company so that there is no crossing of responsibilities.

 

[Rolf Latham]

As a tangent

Hope finance goes well: (


these ones oddly enough can be more difficult to get away on resi terms than a 6 pack

ta
rolf

 

[traveller]

Thanks for the all replies.

Westminster/chilliblue: The strata insurance that i have taken has the Building cover included which i have nominated as $1.2M since they are basic 2bed*5 units. I am assuming that i don't need any separate Building insurance. In case the Building is damaged the Strata insurance should come into play in that case. Please correct me if i am wrong here.

Assuming the above it seems that i now need a separate cover for each unit something on the lines of what is offered by AAMI's Landlord policy for Strata Title policies. I can take them with Contents of say 10k as the carpet, kitchen, bathroom fittings etc are covered by the Strata Building insurance itself and there is very little else in the units. The cover will be mainly for the Legal Liability cases.

I did a quick quote for AAMI Landlord insurance for Strata properties and with 10k contents the quote came to be around:
Without tenant protection - $125, Excess 1k
With tenant protection - $180, Excess 1k

Chilliblue/Westminster - Can you recommend which insurer you use for all these insurances.

Rolf - The finance should be good now.

Thanks-

 

[brettc]

Thanks for the all replies.

Westminster/chilliblue: The strata insurance that i have taken has the Building cover included which i have nominated as $1.2M since they are basic 2bed*5 units. I am assuming that i don't need any separate Building insurance. In case the Building is damaged the Strata insurance should come into play in that case. Please correct me if i am wrong here.

Assuming the above it seems that i now need a separate cover for each unit something on the lines of what is offered by AAMI's Landlord policy for Strata Title policies. I can take them with Contents of say 10k as the carpet, kitchen, bathroom fittings etc are covered by the Strata Building insurance itself and there is very little else in the units. The cover will be mainly for the Legal Liability cases.

I did a quick quote for AAMI Landlord insurance for Strata properties and with 10k contents the quote came to be around:
Without tenant protection - $125, Excess 1k
With tenant protection - $180, Excess 1k

Chilliblue/Westminster - Can you recommend which insurer you use for all these insurances.

Rolf - The finance should be good now.

Thanks-

The internal carpet won't be covered by the strata insurance, neither will light fittings, curtains, blinds, nor the internal paint. These all need to be insured as your "contents". The other area to watch is that if any of the internal fixtures such as bathroom fittings, kitchens etc. have been replaced from the original (I don't know how old this property is), they also may not be covered by the strata insurance. It will generally cover those items on the original building unit plan but if renovated they will generally become the responsibility of the individual strata unit owner.

 

[Mick C]

Wish everyone a very Happy and safe New Year .

I have just been able to put a block of units in QLD under contract. It’s a block of 5 individually titled and rented units. I have been advised and have taken up Strata Insurance with Wesfarmers Insurance for the entire block which comes with Building and Common Areas, Public Liability, Fidelity insurance etc.

My question is: Do I still need to take the Public Liability insurance as a Landlord for each individual unit? I am not too concerned about the Malicious damage, Loss of Rent etc. However I am more concerned about the Public Liability issue as the Strata Insurer has confirmed that the Public liability of the Strata insurance only covers only the Body Corporate. In this case both the Landlord and the Body Corporate is me only and thus I am confused.

Will there be any scenarios in which I will not be covered in case I only stick with the Strata Insurance?

Any help, advise will be appreciated and helpful...

This only applies for units that's strata unit (even if you own the whole block)

Strata insurance - Covers the building and the PUBLIC liability of the body corp/strata ( meaning the pub liability ONLY covers the common areas! does not cover any liability WITHIN the unit...as that's not part of strata )

Hence why you need a separate public Liability insurance to cover what happens inside each of the units ( land lords responsibility...not body corp)

Land lord cover ( covering - public Liability) - Cover the "content" of the inside, internal walls, fittings + public Liability for any personal Liability that happens WITHIN the units.


If it was under one title, it be a slightly different story.

*** I use to be an insurance underwriter+ me and my siblings owns a few block of units

Regards
Michael

 

[S.T]

Question, if you've just bought a strata unit, would you get landlords cover immediately even if not tenanted to protect renovated things like air con, heaters and public liability in case you hurt yourself or say someone inspecting (prospective tenant) the property hurt themselves inside? or would you wait until property is tenanted before you got landlords insurance?

 

[brettc]

Question, if you've just bought a strata unit, would you get landlords cover immediately even if not tenanted to protect renovated things like air con, heaters and public liability in case you hurt yourself or say someone inspecting (prospective tenant) the property hurt themselves inside? or would you wait until property is tenanted before you got landlords insurance?

You should certainly get it straight away. Apart from the liability, if there was a fire that destroyed your unit (for example) before it was tenanted, you would need your insurance in place to cover the repair costs.

 

[Mick C]

Question, if you've just bought a strata unit, would you get landlords cover immediately even if not tenanted to protect renovated things like air con, heaters and public liability in case you hurt yourself or say someone inspecting (prospective tenant) the property hurt themselves inside? or would you wait until property is tenanted before you got landlords insurance?

1. You can't be liability for your "own" injuries, ie your taking legal action against yourself not the insurance company.

2. The Pub liability will cover for any tradies you send over ( normally they have their own cover already) and any prospective tenants that comes to have a look

3. Yes it will cover for the internal fittings damage- example Burst water pipes/ electrical default etc...

4. Getting the insurance from day 1 is advisable for the above ( point 2 and 3 ) reason

- It wont cost much anyway, ~ $2 per day max?
- Tax deductible
- Less hassle, in case you forget.

Regards
Michael

 

[brettc]

- It wont cost much anyway, ~ $2 per day max?

Regards
Michael

More like $1 per day (for a unit), and as you say...tax deductible.

 

[chrispy]

I cover the public liability for internal of each unit through CGU Insurance. I go through Optimus in Cairns. Each Policy covers:

Contents ($15k) Loss of rent (19.5k) Liability $10m.

Excess applicable to all above $500

Cost works out at $230 per unit per year

Chris

 

[S.T]

thanks guys, appreciate the responses!

 

[Peterw]

Traveller, if I understand correctly, being wholly owned, there is probably no Body Corporate actually set up. Being individually titled, a CTS statement was probably issued, however that does not trigger the requirement for a Body Corp to be set up. To me the insurance you should have, is for a block of 5 flats, and the cover would then include the internal assets owned as well as the landlords Public Liability, for both internally as well as externally. I am sure some of our insurance members could expand. Strata Insurance in my mind is the wrong policy. Also, rember that you dont insure the value of the seperate units, as they have a land component. Insure for replacement of the whole building.