URGENT: Apartment insurance excess

gibo_ie

Hi all,
Had a windows smashed by some kids last night in our apartment and the management company are saying that there is a €750 excess!!!! on all claims, can you believe this ? Is this actually right, does anyone have any info on claims they made as i am guessing they took the cheapest possible cowboy quote they got.

Anybody please? Need to sort this this AM.
Thanks

homeOwner

In my apt complex the excess is 1000euro. Its to prevent people putting in a claim for every small thing that happens. By the way, you probably know already but your own house content insurance does not cover window panes and it has to be claimed off the block policy for the complex.

babaduck

That sounds about right - we had a claim recently (one of the owners got a cowboy to install a water softener & flooded out the whole block...) and the excess was €1000. It came out of the management funds, but when the AGM comes around & the owners ask about the €1k spent, god love the morons who caused the flood... divine retribution:D

gibo_ie

but who should pay the excess you or management company?
My point is that if i was taking out insurance on my building i would not take a reduced price if excess was extremely high like this! average home insurance is €125 excess standard / €500 excess is 10% discount and €1000 excess is 15% discount. this is from a number of irish companies today.

Already out 130 for boarding up window, management company have backed down now and are putting in secure "unbreakable" window in replacement due to our location....;)

babaduck

In this instance, the final figures for repairs, lost rent etc. was over €60k & if I was the person who caused the damage, I would have been falling over myself to pay the excess... but not this particular owner...:mad:

Why should the management company (i.e. all the owners) cough up the excess for the claim? I certainly wouldn't be too impressed to hear that at the AGM, especially when they only pay €500 p/a for grounds maintenance, water treatment & ESB.

You also have to bear in mind that the sum insured is far, far greater than a single unit family home, hence the much larger excess

gibo_ie

Hi baba,
I think the management company should absorb this for a number of reasons.
1. We dont get a choice who insures us or what excess we wish to have and pay extra/less for.
2. Because it is an apartment and most building claims are going to be quite small per individual i would guess 90% would be well below the 750 mark.
3. we pay 1500 per year for maintenance including insurance....

Otherwise i would be more than happy to arrange my own insurance but seeing as you cannot insure the same property twice its a bit of a bummer...

babaduck

I've just had a chat with our own insurers & it's very difficult to get cover with a lower excess for a block policy. The premium payable would also rise dramatically to cover the lower excess. The point being that every claim increases your risk & if you have a spate of "petty" or small claims, you could eventually be refused cover as you are a poor risk

You also need to remember that the funds to run the management company are paid by you & your fellow owners....

The_Conductor

Our excess here in Lucan is E1000 as well.
Often its more worth our while to cover anything under about 1.5k ourselves, and keep the slate clean with the insurance company.

godtabh

smccarrick wrote:

Our excess here in Lucan is E1000 as well.
Often its more worth our while to cover anything under about 1.5k ourselves, and keep the slate clean with the insurance company.

Where about is Lucan are you? That seems cheap?

Did people get terms and conditions when they signed up to the management comapny i.e signed contracts?

The_Conductor

kearnsr wrote:

Where about is Lucan are you? That seems cheap?

Did people get terms and conditions when they signed up to the management comapny i.e signed contracts?

All owners are automatically members of the Management Company. Re: terms and conditions- these are spelt out in the 900 year leases that all the owners signed when buying their properties. Ultimately all properties here are *owned* by the Management Company- and simply leased (albeit on 900 year leases) to the owners. Should someone fail to adhere to all the terms and conditions in their lease, ultimately the Management Company would be legally entitled to demand possession of their properties (I doubt that this would ever happen in practice).

I'm not fully following where you are coming from when you say that it seems cheap. Thats the excess that the Managment Company pays before the insurance company stumps up for any accidents or damage on the complex..... The Management Charge that all the owners pay to the Management Company is a totally different matter........

Victor

babaduck wrote:

That sounds about right - we had a claim recently (one of the owners got a cowboy to install a water softener & flooded out the whole block...) and the excess was €1000.

This should have been paid by the coyboy's public liability insurance (the €60,000 not the €1,000). :rolleyes:

gibo_ie wrote:

Otherwise i would be more than happy to arrange my own insurance but seeing as you cannot insure the same property twice its a bit of a bummer...

You can insure twice, but you can only claim once, i.e. you can't make a profit from insurance. You might think about looking for some type of insurance that has a low excess, but also a low maximum.

babaduck

Victor wrote:

This should have been paid by the coyboy's public liability insurance (the €60,000 not the €1,000). :rolleyes:

Guess what... cowboy was "a guy we met in the pub" and naturally didn't have PL or EL insurance.... and the client is a solicitor!!!!!

godtabh

smccarrick wrote:

I'm not fully following where you are coming from when you say that it seems cheap.

Sorry I miss read your post. I thought you meant managment fee's was only €1000

lomb

another nail in the coffin of apartments imho. a friend of mines father built 50 apartments and sold half and kept half. the half he kept he sold recently saying it was a joke. the service charges,delapidating building only built in 1998, the poor tenants because of the delapidation, and other problems meant he sold them all. hes vowed never to touch apartments again. u just have no control and he built them and owned the land!. they arent even cheap anymore compared to houses and are dearer in some cases, i cant see why ud buy one outside d1 or d2.