Residential strata insurance – what you need to know before you purchase

Scenario: If your strata property is severely damaged by fire and some (or all) units are uninhabitable, residents won’t be able to access the property until after an engineering and safety inspection and will need access to accommodation and storage for their belongings.

Flex Insurance provides these benefits as part of our standard strata insurance policy: 

• Temporary accommodation - lot owners who are unable to access their unit while waiting for the safety
• inspection. Removal and storage of the rescued common area items up to $2,000.
• Re-letting costs up to $1,500 to secure a new tenant if your current tenant decides to leave due to the fire damage
• Cover for the costs of the fire extinguishing equipment, including replenishing firefighting appliances, replacing used sprinkler heads and resetting fire smoke and security alarm systems.

Without this cover, owners must cover these costs out of their own pocket.  

Scenario: Claims come in all shapes and sizes. The process of submitting a claim can be timely and complicated depending on the nature of the claim sometimes requiring engineers, builders and other professionals to assess and repair the damage. This can become a costly process, but essential in ensuring you get the most out of the claim that you are entitled to.

 Your Flex Residential strata policy provides up to $10,000 to cover the fees and expenses associated with preparing a claim. Some policies may not cover this at all leaving Owners Corporations with a costly bill.

Scenario: If one or more of the homes within your strata property are leased to tenants, it is important to check that your policy covers you for any intentional or unintentional damage to the common property by a tenant or their guests. Examples of incidents that have occurred include:

• Malicious damage to carpets and walls in the common hallway
• Broken windows
• Theft of gym equipment

Unfortunately, it is often the case that one or more of these events may occur as a result of one event or from the same tenant, so it is important to check that you are able to claim on these types of repairs more than once during the insured period. 

Scenario: In catastrophic events such as flood or major storms, damage to roads or road closures can prevent access to resident’s property. Residents may need require temporary accommodation until the road can be repaired and re-opened.

With Flex Insurance, temporary accommodation up to $1,000 per week for one year is automatically included for lot owners who are unable to access their unit. It offers immediate peace of mind for all residents should the worst happen.

Not all residential strata insurance policies are created equal, so it’s important to compare different policies carefully. Selecting the wrong type and level of cover could leave you exposed to several risks and unforeseen costs.