Please Help, Strata Insurance Cover Dilemma (Water Membrane)

Afternoon, I have a unit in a complex of 6 & a couple years back the bathroom roof of my unit collapsed due to a water issue from the unit above. The strata's building insurance nor my own insurance covered me for anything which was extremely frustrating. It appeared there was also another claim from another unit for a water leaking issue.
Anyway from this point a "Membrane exclusion" was added to the policy for any future claims. The unit holders have now been informed by the BC that insurance cover will not be renewed unless ALL the units now have the waterproofing membrane installed.
The building was built in 1989 & no doubt waterproofing was not a requirement of building practices at that time, surely the BC Insurance cannot force our hand on having the waterproofing done? The costs in doing so I understand is upward of 10k. I bought the unit at 250k, now valued under 100k & there is no way I could afford to take this further hit.
Any help or guidance in what steps I could take would be very much appreciated!

 

Why is the unit worth less than half of what you paid?

Who is requiring that membranes be installed? BC or the insurer? Change insurer if it is at issue on their part.

 

Cheers for the reply mate, sadly myself & 5 other investors paid a 10k buyers fee to be sold a lemon by Nathan Birc in Gladstone, it's been nothing but a nightmare & caused just as much emotional damage as financial! Easy to see in hindsight knowing what i know now I should have trusted my gut instinct to pull out of the deposit i put down.

To answer your query on who's requiring the membranes installed, The BC is forwarding the requirement from the Insurance broker the notification that they cannot source any other quotes or offer any insurance unless all unit owners provide proof that their units wet areas have sufficient waterproofing. I'm lost for where this leaves me...

 

10k sounds like a lot to rip up a shower base and waterproof, lay a new screed, tiles and shower screen. I'm pretty sure I've seen them done for about 2-3k plus the shower screen instillation which you may require a new one if it gets damaged pulling it out. If you already have quotes for 10k I'd be looking for at least two independent quotes. Lots of buildings in Sydney with this issue, you just remove the first or second wall tile from the bottom there is usually no need to remove all the wall tiles if they are in good condition.

 

Exactly my thoughts when another unit holder said thats what it cost them, I called a tiler up there & was quoted similar. By all means Richard if yourself or anyone has any recommendations for waterproofing in Gladstone please let me know.
Ideally I shouldn't be forced to have to get it done in the first place, or next worse case is pooled funds in the strata cover it. I cant see this being approved by other unit holders, & to make matters worse the majority of unit holders are way behind in their levies owed. Another chapter to the nightmare for a future sale!

 

A 30 year old building would be tired and some works would be justified.

I'd be looking at another broker who wasn't aware of the history to go out fresh.

 

Not much point.

You would have to disclose the defect to the new insurer, otherwise no chance of a claim being paid out.

Lying to an insurer (even via a broker) is never a wise course of action.
Marg

 

A couple grand on refreshing the bathroom i agree could be justified, being forced to spend upward of 10k on a unit that maybe would be 80-90k i think we could all agree couldn't be justified. Maybe i could ask the BC to put forward a request to the broker for a 12 month extension to buy myself time on weighing up a huge loss & exiting

 

Hi Marg, do think the building would be classified a defect taking into account the bathroom building standards was built correctly at the time of build?

 

It’s a known problem, so not insurable. A defect can arise at any time.

Insurance covers you for certain unknown, unforeseeable issues. Maintenance issues are rarely covered by insurance, as maintenance costs are inevitable for every building.

You have a maintenance problem. Over time, the waterproofing has failed and needs to be replaced.
Marg

 

Maybe you could join the exec committee, understand the facts (of which there seem to be a lot missing) and take the lead in finding an acceptable solution.

It seems odd to declare every bathroom an issue even where there haven't been leaks... They all have original waterproofing... But the full story will help here .

 

Thanks for your insights Marg, I would have thought the units that caused the damage yes should be responsible for upgrading their waterproofing. Having the insurer declare every bathroom an issue as mentioned below seems unreasonable & would have thought in fairness to the other units holders that they maintain insurance with the water membrane exclusion for claims

 

The units are all the same age.
Unless completely renovated, the bathrooms are all the same age, and it is logical to believe the waterproofing membrane is the same.
Therefore, it is reasonable to believe ALL bathrooms are leaking to some extent.
The leaking from upper units becomes obvious because it impacts on those below, usually the first sign anything is amiss.
What is below your unit?
Marg

 

Mine is the bottom level of only 2 levels, 6 units in total

 

So how do you know yours is not leaking as well?
If you have garages below, have a good look below your bathroom.
A slow leak below a slab can take a long time to reveal itself if your unit is on the ground floor.
Marg

 

Reasonable to believe but not necessarily correct.

 

No garages below, I'll ask in another forum if anyone has contacts for quotes