Question for the lawyers!

[Hodge]

Here's a prickly one.

I attend an open house on the weekend for a property on the market. I opened the back and proceeded to walk outside onto the deck. The deck was old and the rain made it slippery. As I walked down the ramp I slipped and slid down the ramp. Within 5 minutes 2 others slipped and slid down the ramp. Deck is in reasonable condition, needed a little work.

No one was hurt but got me thinking, do you need public liability insurance before inviting the public to view your property?

Say I hurt my back who would be liable - the owners or real estate agent?

 

[thatbum]

Probably the owner

 

[Vanillascent]

I would say in this case, the owner. Unless it was your failure to take due care and you ought to have known that there was a risk and it would have been reasonable for you to have taken some form of precautions. In which case, you would be contributorily negligent. I am going off my 1st year law subjects here.

 

[Terry_w]

Yes, it would be the owner I think.

 

[Perp]

No one was hurt but got me thinking, do you need public liability insurance before inviting the public to view your property?

Don't most/all homeowners have public liability insurance as part of their building insurance, anyway?

 

[Terry_w]

Don't most/all homeowners have public liability insurance as part of their building insurance, anyway?

Yes, I think most building insurances have this cover included. But does it cover this sort of thing - the mass open inspection?

The agent could probably be tied in in any case.

 

[Perp]

Yes, I think most building insurances have this cover included. But does it cover this sort of thing - the mass open inspection?

Oh, I see - whether that falls within the scope of usual household activities that would be covered by that insurance?

 

[Terry_w]

Oh, I see - whether that falls within the scope of usual household activities that would be covered by that insurance?

Possibly wouldn't. But I am not sure. Would be good to read an insurance PDS and see what is in there.

 

[Perp]

Possibly wouldn't. But I am not sure. Would be good to read an insurance PDS and see what is in there.

Yes, apparently it does vary by insurer. Checked with my broker - I'm good!

 

[peterb]

Ownership structure

Our home property in SA can be divided into 9 blocks.
I have 5 children and want to give them a block each.
I need some guidance on the best way to set this up.
We have been told that we have to pay CGT on each block which could mean a tax bill of upto $400,000 on money that we don't get.

Should we put our kids on the title before division?

I need someone that really knows property tax law.

Have been to 3 accountants all with different answers.

Can't afford to get it wrong.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Peter

 

[Terry_w]

Peter

There are many ways you could minimise the tax payable on the transfer to the children.

Subdividing and then transferring will result in CGT as no main residence exemption can apply to vacant land.

You would need to crunch the numbers on each strategy.

One strategy may be to sell the entire block to one child who then sub-divides it and transfers each block to the other children. CGT may be nil on the transfer to the one child and then little on the transfer to the other children as there is no increase in value during this period (except by the sub-division).

You also need to consider stamp duty and GST, maybe even land tax.

 

[lawmich]

Here's a prickly one.

I attend an open house on the weekend for a property on the market. I opened the back and proceeded to walk outside onto the deck. The deck was old and the rain made it slippery. As I walked down the ramp I slipped and slid down the ramp. Within 5 minutes 2 others slipped and slid down the ramp. Deck is in reasonable condition, needed a little work.

No one was hurt but got me thinking, do you need public liability insurance before inviting the public to view your property?

Say I hurt my back who would be liable - the owners or real estate agent?

This is an issue of negligence. There may be proportionate liability but I would think most of it would fall on owners. At some inspections, I see agents placing warning signs on a wet day in areas such as balconies, deck and even entrances. It's a good practice.

As for insurance, I would think that most home and content insurance would cover incidents like the one mentioned above.

 

[Tano]

Property owner?s insurance
A civil claim for damages for theft, property damage or personal injury suffered by an entrant upon the premises, would typically be made against the property owner. It is possible the agent will also be drawn into a claim because they were in charge of the property during the time the circumstances giving rise to a claim arose and it can be anticipated that allegations of negligence will be made against the agent.

Agent?s insurance
Professional indemnity cover is ordinarily limited to the liability of the agent arising from their professional obligations; such as, if they have given incorrect advice about the state of the premises. Professional indemnity would not normally cover other risks such as theft occurring during a property inspection. It should be noted that if a claim is made by an aggrieved party upon the owner?s insurer who pays out the claim, the owner and/or the insurer may seek to recover contribution from the agent, if the agent caused or contributed to the loss. If the agent has appropriate insurance, the claim would be met by the agent?s insurer. It is therefore important for agents to have insurance cover against the possibility of such a claim