How to Arrange Insurance Without Fuss, If That’s Something You Still Do? 

To arrange insurance for an owners corporation.

• Failure to diarise the date for renewal or to give the committee enough time.
  Solution: Keep good records of the deadline for the insurance, including advanced notes of impending expiry dates. Also, arrange short-term extensions if you can’t get instructions to finalise cover.
• Not having the money to pay the premium when it’s due.
  Solution: In this event, we:
  1. Ask for a 30 to 90-day extension; and
  2. Organise for the OC to pay via premium funding; or
  3. Raise a special levy.
• Objections to spending money on a premium that has risen because:
  1. The value of the property has increased;
  2. The building was underinsured; or
  3. The cost of insurance has risen due to previous claims or world events affecting insurers' risk.
  Solution: If these objections arise, we inform owners that their ability to claim under a policy where the building is underinsured is limited by the percentage by which the building is underinsured. Also, liability for uninsured claims against an owners corporation can make its members personally and fully liable.
• Allegations that we only recommend insurance to collect a commission, and lot owners can get better value using a broker or going direct.
  Solution: We explain to owners corporations how we charge for doing this work and why. We also stress that this is disclosed in detail in our agreement and each year at the AGM. [insert if appropriate – We give owners corporations the option to arrange their own insurance].
• Concern that a valuation will be expensive.
  Solution: We tell owners that strata insurance valuations are relatively cheap. They usually cost less than $1,000. They are cheaper than full-scale property valuations, which can cost many thousands.