All You Need To Know About Strata Insurance

Building insurance, strata insurance and contents insurance, are they the same thing and do you need just one or all three? This is a question that many strata owners have, and we are here to give answers to just that. Strata insurance is not just a convenience, it is a must have for all body corporates. What is covered by the strata insurance and what isn’t depends on the type of policy that is taken by the body corporate. To find out more about strata insurance, read on…

1. Building insurance, contents, and strata insurance, what are they?

Building insurance is specifically for permanent structures. It is usually used by clients that have freestanding homes or any other home structure like a granny flat or a detached garage. For strata owners, this is usually unnecessary as strata insurance usually covers everything that building insurance could have covered. Contents insurance is used to cover the movable things inside your home. Furniture, art, and electronics, for example. For people that live in a strata property, this is necessary as it covers your personal contents not covered by strata insurance.

Strata insurance is a broad spectrum policy. It usually covers the following: impact damage, storm damage, malicious damage, water damage, accidental damage, and fire damage. It is important to note the exclusions that are stated in the policy which you decide to choose for your strata. Building defects are one such thing that is usually not included in strata insurance but a lot of owners try to claim for and they get denied.

2. How much will it cost and who can claim?

Premiums for strata insurance vary depending on a couple of factors. If your strata building is located in a place that is prone to natural disasters such as bush fires or flooding, this will increase premiums. The age and state of the building also factors into the cost of the monthly premium particularly where regular repairs and maintenance has not been done over the years. The additional features of a property such as swimming pools, tennis courts etc will increase the price of the premium.

When you want to lodge a claim, you need to speak to your strata manager. They know your policy back to front and will be able to advise you on the next steps. Some issues are better dealt with by the owners’ corporation instead of claiming insurance on them. In such a case, the strata manager can start the correspondence with the owner’s corporation on your behalf. If such a claim is denied by the owners’ corporation, you may have to go directly to the insurer and claim yourself.

Do you have any questions regarding residential and commercial strata management? Are you looking to switch strata managers? Not altogether satisfied with the information you’ve been getting from your current strata managers? Don’t hesitate to contact Montano Strata Management’s qualified team today.

Improving The Value Of Your Strata Property

Nothing stays new forever and buildings are no different. A strata property will deteriorate with time unless specific measures are put in place. If these are not followed through, it can lead to the property’s value not appreciating at the same rate of other properties in the area. This can be done by owners corporation by undertaking regular maintenance and keeping the property in a good state of repair. Below are our top tips on how you can improve the value of your strata property.

⦁ Regular Maintenance and repairs:

The Strata Schemes Management Act states that you are required to keep the strata property in a state of good and serviceable repair. It is therefore paramount that you use professional and licenced tradespeople to maintain the common areas on your behalf.
If you have external body corporate management, it is their job to ensure that common areas are always kept presentable. These include, hallways, garbage rooms, gardens, parking lots, the vestibule, laundry rooms and gymnasiums.

⦁ Frequent repairs and updates

The Strata Schemes Management Act clearly states that any defects that require repair must be dealt with quickly. The strata management must hire expert repair personnel to deal with the issue. The costs must be covered by the strata community via their levies. A strata scheme should also comply with relevant legislation. An example is the Swimming Pools Act which states that all pools require a child-proof safety barrier or regular service of the lift to ensure the annual safety compliance certificate is issued.

Regular updates are important as they ensure that the property is kept up to date with current technological developments. Measures that can be taken include installing Wi-Fi enabled intercom, elevator upgrade, repainting the walls or garden makeovers.

⦁ Reducing running costs

This is a great way to make sure that you save enough to be able to perform regular maintenance and frequent repairs. You can do this by changing to low emission lighting and installing movement sensors so that you spend less on electricity. Water saving measures can be implemented so that all the money that is saved by the body corporate can be used to improve the building.Do you have any questions regarding residential and commercial strata management? Are you looking to switch strata managers? Not altogether satisfied with the information you’ve been getting from your current strata managers? Don’t hesitate to contact Montano Strata’s qualified team today.