What is strata insurance
What is strata insurance?
Strata insurance is cover taken out by an owners’ corporation / body corporate to cover common property in case of damage, breakdown or theft. It’s typically included in strata fees and is designed to pay for repair and replacement costs. It can also cover legal liabilities, personal injury for employees and volunteers, audit and legal expenses, and fraud.
What does strata insurance cover?
Strata insurance covers repairs to the property’s common areas such as lobbies, lifts, stairs, roofs, external walls, pools, car parks and fences. It also covers legal liabilities of the strata committee, audit expenses, personal injury claims by people working for the owners corporation, machinery breakdown (lifts and laundries), even theft by a committee member.
Residential strata insurance is compulsory for strata properties and even strata schemes with only two units can benefit from strata insurance. See more on what strata insurance covers.
What is not covered by strata insurance?
The general principle is that strata insurance does not cover the contents of your apartment.
Certainly, personal items and contents within a unit are not covered by strata insurance, nor is an individual owner’s liability for damage or injury occurring within an apartment, or indeed any accidental or malicious damage to the apartment. These items can be covered through contents or landlords insurance.
On the good news side, fittings such as cooktops and baths are covered by Flex strata insurance.
Who pays for strata insurance?
The premiums for strata insurance typically come out of the strata levies/fees paid by owners.
Final words…
As an owner of an apartment, it’s also important to take out your own contents or landlords’ insurance, for items not covered by your strata insurance.