Question: Water travels and sometimes years later a building may experience paint bubbling on concrete surfaces. Can we claim this on insurance as water damage?
Answer: It would be very hard for paint bubbling to fall under the definition of sudden and accidental.
Strata policies will cover sudden and accidental damage not otherwise excluded. If you building has issues where paint has bubbled, I would say that it would be very hard to provide evidence that this has occurred from a water event. I would say it would be very hard for it to fall under the definition of sudden and accidental.
By all means, it really does come down to the specifics of how long it has been, over what period of time and what are the contributing factors as to what has caused that damage. Particularly, if the insurance paid a claim in the past and bubbling has happened after that claim has been paid, that might also be consideration as well.
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.