Question: What protection do strata insurance policies offer against defamation claims?
Answer: If you have had a claim for defamation made against you, check with your insurance broker the cover afforded by the policy.
If you have had a claim for defamation made against you, I highly recommend checking with your insurance broker the cover afforded by the policy. The broker should not only check the Office Bearers Liability section of your policy but also the Public Liability section as well because defamation can sometimes be considered a personal injury event.
I wrote to a number of insurers in April 2020 to clarify their position on defamation cover and as I understand Axis, Chubb, Longitude, QUS & SUU do not exclude defamation cover (at the time of providing that advice). CHU, Flex & SCI do have exclusions. CHU did release a new policy wording in January 2022 and one of the changes in the policy wording clarified that office bearers were not covered for defamation – so if your policy incepted before this date you may want to consider your options.
If cover is important, you should consider switching to an insurer that does provide the appropriate cover or alternatively, ask your broker to consider other options such as a management liability policy (without defamation exclusions) – premiums start at $1,000.
Another consideration if you are making publications that run the risk of resulting in a defamation claim – the owners corporation as an entity has better protections as opposed to an individual office bearer. If communications were made on behalf of the owners corporation instead of by the committee or individual committee members it may mean a legal notice is served on the owners corporation instead of an individual office bearer/s and might provide further consideration for a claim under your policy.
Depending on the circumstances and prospects of success in the claim, it is our experience that the absolute majority of defamation matters do not make it past the concerns notice. The claimant has to balance up cost of running a claim and the fact that defamation claims are often so fraught.
If you would like to discuss your matter further please feel free to contact me.
Tyrone Shandiman
Strata Insurance Solutions
E: tshandiman@iaa.net.au
P: 1300 554 165
This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be personal advice on any particular matter. Shandit Pty Ltd T/as Strata Insurance Solutions strongly suggests that no person should act specifically on the basis of the information in this document, but should obtain appropriate professional advice based on their own personal circumstances. Shandit Pty Ltd T/As Strata Insurance Solutions is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 404246) of Insurance Advisenent Australia AFSL No 240549, ABN 15 003 886 687.
Thanks Tyrone. That is quite helpful.