Are you 100% sure you know all the details of the Sectional Title Insurance the Body Corporate holds over your property? Many sectional title owners were recently shocked to find out that while their unit was covered by insurance through their body corporate the excess of a claim was the cost of the sectional title unit owner and NOT the body corporate.
So apparently it pays to go to those annual general meetings!
Up to November two thousand and eight this was not the case. Your body Corporate was responsible for the insurance and any excess that was due during a claim. November 2008 brought about a change that allows the body corporate to cover all insurance details excepting any excess that is due. The excess has now become the responsibility of the unit owner.
This is the case unless your body corporate has made a change allowing the excess to be covered by themselves (this usually comes hand in hand with an increase in your levy payments)
Unit owners who try and wingle their way out of paying the excess due on their claims are in for an unfortunate surprise. When the insurance company pays out for the claim they will simply deduct the excess amount that has not yet been paid.
According to the Body Corporate Rule Book the Management Rule number 29.1 indicates that the trustees must negotiate the excess, cover, premiums and insurance rates on behalf of the sectional titles body corporate. They must take steps to ensure that the common property and buildings are covered for full replacement value without excess required.
The most common claim in a sectional title happens to be for damage cause by faulty geysers. It may seem a better idea for the group as a whole to decide upon higher excess payments for these issues in order to bring about a lower premium for the group insurance payment.
As an owner or a tenant (in which case you will have to ask your landlord for the details) you should have all the details of the insurance company that your body corporate uses. Including their insurance account number so that if you need to make a claim you can process it yourself without having to run in circles trying to deal with the insurance company through the body corporate.