We’ve had dust storms, firestorms and good old-fashioned floods in Australia recently. The plagues of frogs and locusts must be just around the corner.
More significantly for apartment owners we’ve had an apartment block slip down into a hole dug for a motorway tunnel and another in Bondi Junction head skywards when some escaped gas did what gas does when you light it.
With global warming raising sea levels, some of our waterfront units could be heading for the beach and it’s just a matter of time before an apartment block fire has barbecue gas cylinders popping like demolition charges.
Now, most buildings are insured – but for what and for how much? And, in the event of disaster, is your building sufficiently covered to give you and your neighbours similar homes while it’s being fixed?
Is it insured to give you compensation for loss of rental and will your building’s insurance cover tenants if disaster strikes and they lose their home and valuables?
“The Owners Corporation must ensure that they have catastrophe insurance, and update the building valuation regularly, preferably at least every two years,” says this column’s old friend Stephen Goddard, Chairman of the Owners Corporation Network, the peak body for strata and company title owners residential units.
“Owners Corporations should ensure sufficient insurance for loss of rent for four years to cover a reconstruction period to provide alternative accommodation for owner-occupiers, and loss of rental income for investor landlords”, says Goddard.
But what about tenants? “Like owner occupiers, tenants should insure their furniture and possessions, but the strata insurance does not provide for alternative accommodation for rental tenants,” he says.
Wally Patterson, Managing Director of Dynamic Property Services says that the simple problem of contacting residents, including tenants, in the event of a catastrophe can be another major challenge, particularly for large complexes. Dynamic had that very problem dropped in their laps when the top floor of the Bondi Junction building blew up.
So is your building ready to rock when disaster strikes? The Owners Corporation Network will hold a one-day catastrophe-planning seminar for owners, executive committee members and service providers on Saturday, October 17. Log on to www.ocn.org.au for more details.