Maybe - but I just found there was more to break - eg the lifts, pool, gym, foyer, centralised aircon (same as industrial office HVACs), cables, security equipment....
The Y-man
Landlord Insurance - Won't Cover My Leaking Bathroom Problem
- Thread starter missgreeneyes
- Start date
Maybe - but I just found there was more to break - eg the lifts, pool, gym, foyer, centralised aircon (same as industrial office HVACs), cables, security equipment....
The Y-man
True true...
Again, that' why I don't buy into apartments with pool, lift, gym etc
And the same reason I haven't installed aircon or ceiling fans for my unit.
I think I was thinking of an expensive apartment without those mod-cons.
Like the type Lara Bingle bought, in Elizabeth Bay. It's a small block walk-up. Her one-bedda cost like 800k+.
Although there have been quite a few clarifications later in the thread, I will just try to clarify a little further:
First up, leaking showers are very complicated when it comes to insurance, and often will simply not be covered by any policy. It can involved how it leaks, why it leaked, how long you have known, what damage is done, and whether the correct membranes etc. were there in the first place. It's really a messy area.
In a strata property the rule of thumb is that whatever was on the original building unit plan is the Strata Building insurance policy's responsibility, not the individual owners. This would generally include the bathroom fittings such as toilet, basin and shower etc. It would also include the kitchen cupboards.
On the other hand, items like carpets, curtains, blinds, light fittings etc. are considered the landlord's "contents" and would fall under the landlord/contents policy.
Where this can vary may be if the property has been renovated and there is for example a new kitchen. Certainly in our case (RentCover) we would expect that this would then make the kitchen the landlord's responsibility and it would become part of their "contents".
We consider a "landlord contents" policy as one which is there to cover items that are not coverd by the strata insurance. This doesn't make it open slather as there are still limitations, however if there was say damage to bathroom fittings or a kitchen that would ordinarily be considered covered by a strata policy, but they have a way of not paying it, there may very well be a way that we can cover it under your "landlord contents" policy. It can be a grey area but if the strata insurance deny it, we can see whether we can cover it.
Any policy will only pay for the loss of rent for an event that is being paid under their policy, meaning that if they won't pay for the damage, they won't pay for the associated rent loss, essentially anyway. Unless of course it falls under another specific loss of rent clause such as default, denial of access etc.
I can't speak for Terri Scheer, but once again this is where it gets down to who is responsible, the Body Corporate or the owner, and the responsibility can change if there is say a new kitchen installed, therefore items that weren't on the original building unit plan.
Sorry, it won't help. I presume you mean a Mortgagee Interest policy, this is designed to protect the mortgagee and simply would be relevant.
First up, leaking showers are very complicated when it comes to insurance, and often will simply not be covered by any policy. It can involved how it leaks, why it leaked, how long you have known, what damage is done, and whether the correct membranes etc. were there in the first place. It's really a messy area.
In a strata property the rule of thumb is that whatever was on the original building unit plan is the Strata Building insurance policy's responsibility, not the individual owners. This would generally include the bathroom fittings such as toilet, basin and shower etc. It would also include the kitchen cupboards.
On the other hand, items like carpets, curtains, blinds, light fittings etc. are considered the landlord's "contents" and would fall under the landlord/contents policy.
Where this can vary may be if the property has been renovated and there is for example a new kitchen. Certainly in our case (RentCover) we would expect that this would then make the kitchen the landlord's responsibility and it would become part of their "contents".
We consider a "landlord contents" policy as one which is there to cover items that are not coverd by the strata insurance. This doesn't make it open slather as there are still limitations, however if there was say damage to bathroom fittings or a kitchen that would ordinarily be considered covered by a strata policy, but they have a way of not paying it, there may very well be a way that we can cover it under your "landlord contents" policy. It can be a grey area but if the strata insurance deny it, we can see whether we can cover it.
Any policy will only pay for the loss of rent for an event that is being paid under their policy, meaning that if they won't pay for the damage, they won't pay for the associated rent loss, essentially anyway. Unless of course it falls under another specific loss of rent clause such as default, denial of access etc.
I can't speak for Terri Scheer, but once again this is where it gets down to who is responsible, the Body Corporate or the owner, and the responsibility can change if there is say a new kitchen installed, therefore items that weren't on the original building unit plan.
Sorry, it won't help. I presume you mean a Mortgagee Interest policy, this is designed to protect the mortgagee and simply would be relevant.
These days pretty much any "landlord" policy will also include cover for defined events such as fire, storm, water etc. Although it is in the cover provided for the tenant-related risks that can vary the most from one policy to another.
Not the case at all, plenty of companies have combined policies these days but you do need to be careful as to what tenant-related risks are covered and what excesses apply, as they can vary substantially.
Terri Scheer does have them as separate policies though, their landlord contents policy is one, and a separate building policy.
For us, we have a single product when combining building which is RentCoverPlatinum. It's a little difference to most as behind the scenes it is actually two policies (RentCoverUltra plus a defined events building policy), but from a policyholder viewpoint it is simply a combined policy. We did this for a number of reasons but one of the main ones was that it allows us to cover tenant-related risks extensively, rather than just starting with a normal defined events policy and adding tenant-realated risks in. At the end of the day we believe it provides better cover.
Correct in that in most cases the strata policy won't cover Malicious Damage by a tenant, however a good landlords policy "should" pick up where the strata policy leaves off, but you would have to confirm this with individual policies.
In our case we see RentCoverUltra as an "extra-protection" policy. If you had damage to the kitchen for example, and the claim was denied by the strata insurer as it was malicious damage by the tenant, we would expect to be able to cover that under the RentCover policy as we include malicious damage to "building", which in this case the the kitchen (if the original one) is classed as. If it's not the original one as you renovated, chances are we would be picking up the whole kitchen risk anyway.
This will vary with other "landlord" policies no doubt so in this I can only speak for our products.
I have probably covered this earlier, but certainly some landlord policies will cover damage to fixtures, particularly if denied by the strata insurer, but this could vary from policy to policy.
And the mortgagee protection (Mortgagees Interest insurance) won't help I'm afraid.
Thanks BrettC.
Mortgagee protection insurance, if it's the one I'm thinking of, is the one where they would pay out the value of your unit if, say the building burnt down but the strata had not been paying the insurance premiums for the last few months.
What insurance company do you spruik? Please PM it to me if you aren't allowed to post it on the forum.
I'll consider it.
Terri Scheer is very skimpy I've realised. I think malicious damage is limited to $500 per event/claim!!
Mortgagee protection insurance, if it's the one I'm thinking of, is the one where they would pay out the value of your unit if, say the building burnt down but the strata had not been paying the insurance premiums for the last few months.
What insurance company do you spruik? Please PM it to me if you aren't allowed to post it on the forum.
I'll consider it.
Terri Scheer is very skimpy I've realised. I think malicious damage is limited to $500 per event/claim!!
Yes, in essence you're correct about Mortgagee Protection insurance or Mortgagee's Interest insurance.
As Y-man said, I make no secret about the company I work for, albeit I do my best to remain impartial on here. EBM are the largest privately owned and operated insurance broker in Australia and have one of the leading landlord policies which is the RentCover range. Personally I've been involved in landlord insurance for over 20 years.
The Terri Scheer policy you are referring to is the one they have for private landlords, and is different from their policy for managed properties, but I believe your understanding on their Malicious Damage cover is correct. We (EBM) use the same product/s regardless of whether it is managed by an agent or self-managed.
To take a look at the features go to www.rentcover.com.au and click on "Our Products". For a unit or townhouse take a look at RentCoverUltra.
If you have any questions feel free to let me know.
Thanks BrettC
I'll have a look when I'm done with my plumbing saga.
I was almost literally in tears over this. This is a big thing for me, as I'm not a DIY person.
How do insurers calculate the value of a property when making a payout? Higher of market value vs purchase price? And how is market value determined? Would it not be very bad luck indeed if the house burnt down during a depressed market? In the case of a house, you could rebuild and wait for the market to go up, then sell. But not so in the case of an apartment. The other owners may not want to rebuild and you would just get the lump sum payment, end of story.
Conversely speaking, if the market was high when the house burnt down, the insurance payout may not be what you would have gotten if you had auctioned off the property, isn't it? Think if all these properties selling at 100k+ above reserve.
I'll have a look when I'm done with my plumbing saga.
I was almost literally in tears over this. This is a big thing for me, as I'm not a DIY person.
How do insurers calculate the value of a property when making a payout? Higher of market value vs purchase price? And how is market value determined? Would it not be very bad luck indeed if the house burnt down during a depressed market? In the case of a house, you could rebuild and wait for the market to go up, then sell. But not so in the case of an apartment. The other owners may not want to rebuild and you would just get the lump sum payment, end of story.
Conversely speaking, if the market was high when the house burnt down, the insurance payout may not be what you would have gotten if you had auctioned off the property, isn't it? Think if all these properties selling at 100k+ above reserve.
It's not in relation to the selling price it's the replacement cost of the property, land value doesn't come into it. In simple terms, with a house for example, you may purchase it for $500,000 but the actual house itself would cost $300,000 to replace, the other $200,000 being the land value. You would only insure for $300,000 (plus removal of debris etc.) so if there was a total loss, that would be what the insurance pays. You don't pay insurance on the land value. Same with a unit, you may have paid $400,000 but you are only insuring your contents etc., the Body Corporate is insuring the building, but no-one is insuring the land value.
I see what you mean....thanks....
