Question: Can a strata committee rent out unused storage cages? Are the renting owners required to take out insurance?
Our strata scheme has eight unused storage cages in the garage. Some owners have expressed an interest in renting the cages.
The committee agree, in principle, to rent them out for a small fee. Our strata management company requires each renter to take out an insurance policy for $10,000,000 before renting a cage.
Is it reasonable or required for the committee to impose this insurance requirement? If renters do not take out insurance, could the owners corporation or committee be exposed to liability?
Answer: From the committee’s perspective, the key issue is risk management rather than mandating a specific insurance product.
It is not necessarily standard or required for each lessee of a storage cage to take out a separate $10,000,000 public liability policy. In many cases, lot owners (or tenants) will already hold appropriate cover under an existing contents or landlord insurance policy, which typically includes a public liability component.
What is important is whether their existing policy responds to this specific use — i.e. storing personal belongings in a rented storage cage on common property at the address they are also residing at. This is something the individual should confirm with their insurer. If the cover extends to this situation, there would generally be no need to arrange a separate standalone liability policy.
From the committee’s perspective, the key issue is risk management rather than mandating a specific insurance product. The owners corporation should already carry public liability insurance covering common property, which would respond where the owners corporation is negligent (for example, failure to maintain the building area, being common property, leading to injury or damage).
Conversely, if a loss arises due to the actions or negligence of the storage cage user (for example, unsafe storage of items causing damage or injury), liability may rest with that individual.
Because liability is always determined based on the specific facts of an incident, it isn’t possible to prescribe a one-size-fits-all outcome in advance.
In this instance, I would recommend first checking with your contents or landlord insurer to confirm whether this use is covered under your existing policy and if it is, reverting to the strata manager to clarify whether it meets the requirements.
This post appears in the May 2026 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
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.
