Block insurance excess

filthymcnasty

hi all
i had a water leak in my apartment -caused a fair bit of damage, am been told by management co. that i will have to pay an excess, they are unsure yet how much it will be.
has anyone ever had to pay this excess charge for an apartment, want to get an idea how much i will have to cough out- i heard these excess charges went up a lot this year :eek:
thanks a lot

Paulw

I believe that the excess in our block is €1,000. But, I believe in some places it goes as high as €5,000.

You'll have to ask, to be sure.

Victor

filthymcnasty wrote: »

i heard these excess charges went up a lot this year :eek:
thanks a lot

It will very much depend on the insurance policy and the lease between the management company and the property owner.

spirityboy

i know in our development the owner pays the excess on all claims on the block insurance.

Paulw

spirityboy wrote: »

i know in our development the owner pays the excess on all claims on the block insurance.

It would be normal that the unit owner would pay the excess on claims effecting their unit.

The excess amount should be detailed in the insurance cover. Talk to your management agent, they should have the details.

spirityboy

sorry paulw that's what i meant. if i make a claim on my unit then i pay the excess or more probable it will be deducted from any pay out. they also tend to take any outstanding service charges if I'm not in an existing standing order / payment plan.

antoinolachtnai

I can't see what entitlement they would have to the excess. It depends what's on your lease.

Paulw

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I can't see what entitlement they would have to the excess. It depends what's on your lease.

An excess wouldn't be detailed in a lease. The excess will vary year on year, depending on the insurance contract used, and the terms and conditions of the insurance.

No one can be entitled to the excess, since the excess would have to be paid (for repairs) by the unit owner.

antoinolachtnai

If the excess is not detailed on the lease, it is hard to see how it can be imposed on the unit owner. The unit owner is making a claim on the management company, not the insurance firm. The excess appears to me to be the management company's problem, not the unit owner's.

Paulw

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

If the excess is not detailed on the lease, it is hard to see how it can be imposed on the unit owner. The unit owner is making a claim on the management company, not the insurance firm. The excess appears to me to be the management company's problem, not the unit owner's.

The excess can't be detailed on the lease. It's just not possible.

The unit owner can't make a claim on the management company. There is no insurance contract between owner and management company. The management company is making a claim on the insurance, and the payment is then paid over to the unit owner.

In our AGM minutes each year, we detail any changes to insurance policy, including any change to the excess.

antoinolachtnai

It looks to me like the management company is making the claim on the insurance and then compensating the unit owner.

You can write what you want in the AGM minutes, but if someone's apartment is damaged by something like a leak from a roof, the owner is going to have to be compensated for the entire. If its a leak within the apartment from the apartment's internal water system, then ok, I can see how there might be an excess.

Paulw

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

You can write what you want in the AGM minutes, but if someone's apartment is damaged by something like a leak from a roof, the owner is going to have to be compensated for the entire. If its a leak within the apartment from the apartment's internal water system, then ok, I can see how there might be an excess.

If there is a leak in the roof, then the management company repair the roof. If contents are damaged then that has nothing to do with the management company and the owner should have their own contents insurance policy (which will also have an excess).

If, like the OP says, there was a leak within the unit, then the unit owner is responsible for the excess (which may change year on year), and then the unit owner is paid the insurance payout.

This is normal in multi-unit developments, and in our place we've dealt with many such claims. Too many really, since we've had to change insurance policy and the excess has changed now to €5,000.

tHE vAGGABOND

I know our excess is pretty high [5-6 grand] as we had nothing but gigantic quotes for insurance [due to a couple of huge claims [fires] and a fairly large number of tiny claims], and the only way to reduce the gigantic quotes for a premium was to raise the excess [as well as a few other things, like checking claims before insurance just paid them etc].

Fingers crossed after another year of a small number of claims we can drop the excess a bit, if we got reasonable insurance quotes?

Like this issue, I had something with a tiny leak from roof [Im on top floor] - I rang management company the second I saw it, they got a lad out who fixed a couple of roof tiles and checked my place and there was no real damage, just staining [which I got fixed and I billed them for]. Job done, no messing with insurance.

Victor

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

If the excess is not detailed on the lease

While it is impractical to state the amount of the excess in the lease, it could specify the conditions in which the tenant is responsible for paying the excess, e.g. the tenant leaves the bath taps running and floods the apartments below.

filthymcnasty

thanks for all your replies folks
the problem was caused when timber floors were laid about 8 months ago, the skirting was removed for this and when put back (Not by me. i might say!) on a nail went through a pipe feeding the rads. no leak noticed at time, eventually nailrusted through and water gushed out. i returned home to find the place like a swamp water under floors, destroyed. (ps i am aware flooring may not be covered by block policy)damage to walls/plastering/door saddles/kitchen units also. i have a de-humidifier running since friday which to date has sucked out nearly 20 litres of water!!

as flooring was done by a 3rd party, i am responsible for excess- fair enough.
I have contacted property managemant several times to determine how much it will cost but keep been fobbed off, being told i will be called back etc.not sure what they are playing at but there is some agenda. Maybe they are waiting to see assessors report , i dont know. i pay a prop. management fee which covers block insurance but have never received any documenation reagrding this policy or who the insurer even is. am told all claims done through prop. management . thanks again.

Paulw

You may have recourse (via civil courts) against the 3rd party who did the work. I assume that you contracted them to do this work?

Normally, the MA will need to get the assessors report to know what is going on.

Not getting documentation is normal, since many companies change insurer frequently, depending on what they can get. They usually use a broker.

Your situation doesn't sound that unusual, and hopefully you can get it resolved.

Lantus

As other have said the insurance will be dealt with the Managment company. They technically own the building (walls, roof, floors) you own the layer of plasterboard inside your apartment and the fixtures and fittings typically.

If the building is concrete walls and floors and only your apartment was damaged then most of the damage will be to contents as once dried out nothing may need repairing. The damage to your heating system was caused by work you had done so you will likley need to arrange repair.

Once the water has dried out you can get an assessment done.

Has the OMC even come to take a look yet?

Victor

Thread split: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=205677636

Moderator