Question: A garbage truck damaged our external wall. The company’s insurance paid to repair the damage but we are not happy with the finish. What happens now?
Our building is located in NSW. A garbage truck knocked down part of our front complex wall. Repairs were carried out through the garbage truck company’s insurer.
Repairs were not carried out satisfactorily. You can see where the wall was repaired. The rendering does not match the original finish of the wall.
The committee notified the company over 2 months ago to say the repairs were not carried out to a satisfactory standard. We have followed up and been told their “insurance company is still considering” the next steps and the tradespersons disagree the job has not been completed satisfactorily.
Where do we complain?
Answer: Have another tradesperson provide a report and a quote to rectify the unsatisfactory work.
Workmanship issues can arise from time to time with claims and such claims can be technical and may end in the builder and property owner not agreeing on the issue.
The best way to dispute that the works are not done to an acceptable standard would be to have another tradesperson provide a report and a quote to rectify the unsatisfactory work.
If the claim is through the strata insurer and they arranged the repairer, they will have to warranty the work and you can refer your concerns to the insurer.
If you arranged repairs yourself and lodged a claim via strata insurance, you would need to dispute this with the repairer or if applicable and necessary, via the process set out on NSW Fair Trading for “Home building dispute resolution“.
If the work was carried out by the owner of the trucks’ insurer rather than the owners corporation’s insurer, you could alternatively lodge a letter of demand with a report and quote to their insurer to rectify the work.
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.