Question: Our committee has already unanimously agreed on an insurer, but our body corporate manager insists on running a formal vote outside a committee meeting, at a fee. Are we obliged to hold one?
Our committee chose an insurer by emailing options from our broker to all owners and committee members, and conveyed our unanimous decision to our body corporate manager. Our manager is insisting on a formal vote outside a committee meeting (VOC), conducted by them, at a fee.
Are we obliged to hold a VOC, or should our decision be actioned by the manager without one?
Answer: A formal VOC is not strictly required for an insurance renewal if the committee has already unanimously agreed, but the practical approach will depend on your scheme’s size, culture, and management agreement.
For better or worse, the legislation sets out that body corporate committees can make decisions only via committee meetings or VOCs, which then have to be ratified at committee meetings.
However, this doesn’t mean that the body corporate has to make every decision in advance via this means. It would be nearly impossible to run buildings if that was the standard.
As a result, most committees make decisions about the running of the scheme via emails, phone calls, texts and various informal conversations, then ratify those decisions after the fact.
There is no fixed format for what that ratification might look like, other than that it should be a valid motion of some kind. It could be a blanket motion to ratify all costs over a fixed period, individual motions for each significant cost, or something in between. Some schemes will never hold a committee meeting or a VOC and might rely on the general motion at the AGM confirming the books and records as a true record.
As the legislation isn’t precise in this area, you may find that if you speak to different people across the industry you will get different responses about what is required, when and why. The differing answers may be because when people talk about issues like this, they are considering what best practice is rather than what is required by the letter of the law.
Best practice, though, can vary a lot from scheme to scheme. The same legislation covers a six-lot scheme where owners chat on a text group and a six-hundred-lot scheme where even routine decisions can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is no one-size-fits-all management style that suits such a diverse range of buildings, so committees and managers do need to tailor their approach based on the needs of individual sites.
In your case, your manager’s view that a VOC is required to approve an insurance renewal is not uncommon in the industry, and many companies do hold a VOC as standard procedure for insurance approvals. In some cases, this may be to increase revenues, as you indicate, but many people will see this as a best-practice standard for the scheme.
However, as you’ve identified, there is no strict requirement to do so. The insurance renewal is typically the most expensive item a body corporate incurs each year. However, it is still legislated as an expense that the committee can approve, unless the body corporate has specifically mandated otherwise. If the committee can approve a lightbulb change for $25 via internal emails, there is no reason why it can’t approve a new insurance policy for $25,000 by the same means. The procedure is the same; only the magnitude of the cost has changed.
So if your manager is insisting on a VOC, it’s reasonable to ask them why the same approach isn’t applied to every other decision the committee makes within its spending limits. Why is there a need to have a VOC now as opposed to ratifying the decision at the next committee meeting or the next time you have a VOC for a required issue? If they are advocating to have a VOC for the insurance renewal today, why didn’t they do the same for your lightbulb change last week?
At the same time, it’s worth reflecting on whether approving the renewal purely through internal emails is the right approach for your scheme, even if it’s permissible. You say that you have already sent out the renewal documents to all owners, so it seems that you are engaging them in the process. If no one is complaining, then you may be following a reasonable path.
Other committees should consider the approach that works for them, and in many cases holding a VOC for an insurance renewal decision is a good way not just to ratify the decision but also to inform owners about one of the key decisions about the site. If your scheme is doing this and owners are happy, there is no reason to stop. Equally, other methods are available. If your scheme is making a decision like this internally, maybe you could inform owners via a letter or general newsletter. Perhaps send all owners a copy of the certificate of currency when it is available. The right approach will depend on the needs and culture of your scheme.
Whatever you decide, it’s worth remembering that the manager works for the body corporate. The relationship is not always straightforward, but ultimately, if the committee is giving a lawful instruction, the manager should follow it rather than apply arbitrary standards.
This post appears in the August 2026 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
Leave a Reply