This article discusses strata insurance tenant damage claims responsibility and why tenant-caused building damage is usually claimed under strata insurance.
Question: Landlord lot owners in our small scheme make claims for damage caused by their tenants on our strata insurance. This has increased our premium. Shouldn’t they have landlord insurance?
Should a strata lot owner who rents out their lot have landlord insurance? I live in a 3 lot complex. The other 2 lots are rentals. The landlord lot owners make claims for damage caused by their tenants on our strata insurance. This has increased our strata insurance premium. This isn’t fair. They are collecting rent on their lots and should have seperate landlord insurance to cover damage caused by their tenants. It doesn’t seem reasonable that I should bear the increase in insurance premiums for their tenant’s damage.
Answer: Strata Insurance covers all items defined as building – it is not possible to get a separate landlords policy to cover building items that the strata policy covers.
Strata Insurance covers all items defined as building – it is not possible to get a separate landlords policy to cover building items that the strata policy covers, hence the reason legislation requires the strata corporation to have cover.
The basic principle is that if you pick the unit up and shake it, anything that falls out is lot owners’ contents/landlords + temporary flooring such as carpet, blinds & curtains, appliances that are not permanently attached.
Other permanent fixtures including but not limited to kitchen and bathroom cabinetry are covered by strata insurance subject to the policy terms, conditions & exclusions.
When you purchase in strata, you buy into the claims history of the complex – unfortunately the only way to avoid a shared claims history is not to own in strata at all.
This post appears in the August 2022 edition of The WA 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.