I would really appreciate advice about insurance issues that need to be considered when buying a townhouse or duplex. I’ve heard of one occasion where someone had to insure the adjoining property to get cover because the owner of the attached property wouldn’t insure it.
I’ve heard of one occasion where someone had to insure the adjoining property to get cover because the owner of the attached property wouldn’t insure it.
The Body Corporate is responsible for the insurance of the total building but this cover does not include the inside of the units. This cover should be obtained by the individual unit owner. Most good insurance companies have a separate policy for this event and it is often attached to a contents policy. I believe that it is called Stratacover.
As to your example, I can't see how the insurance company would know if the adjoining property was insured or not, so I am inclined to believe that prehaps it was an uneducated rumour.
Jon
I don't know the law about when you are obliged to have a body corporate. I do know that when I bought a unit (1 of 2) 5 years ago there was no body corporate and each owner had their own building insurance.
When I was organising strata insurance for my unit one of the questions I needed to answer was….. is the other unit insured and with whom. I was a bit concerned about the separate insurance policies and worried about the insurance cover for the common area as I was not sure what type of insurance policy the owner of the other unit had. I was trying to persuade the other owner to go halves in one strata insurance policy covering both units when I learned that they were also wanting to sell so I bought that one too. Insurance problem solved
Seriously though, if there is no body corporate and the other owner has no mortgage then there is nothing (except good sense) that compels them to have insurance… is there?
I can imagine that in those circumstances I may have had problems getting my first unit insured.Elka
Thanks for your thoughts, I think I'll make sure a body corporate is in place before I sign on the dotted line.
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