Q When my washing machine broke recently water escaped from it and flooded my apartment, ruining almost everything.
I know from my service charge statement that our building is insured but my management agent is telling me that it doesn’t cover my apartment.
When my neighbour’s apartment was flooded last year, because of a leaking pipe, the management company’s insurance paid out for that.
I don’t really understand what the difference is with my case and why they wont pay.
It is going to cost a fortune.
AApartment-block multi-unit developments will have a block policy of insurance that will cover the structure, fixtures and fittings against normal risks. These usually include "water or oil escaping from a fixed water or heating installation or domestic appliance" together with, freezing of a fixed water or heating installation, riot and civil commotion, ground heave or subsidence, fire, storm and many more insurable risks.
The policy will not cover the individual contents of owners or residents of the individual apartments such as carpets, appliances, curtains, sofas and so on, but will cover fixtures and fittings such as plasterboard, kitchen fittings, bathroom fittings, damage to decoration and, quite often, timber floors. Each policy will have a claims excess which is the initial amount of each claim that the insurance company will not pay out, ie if the excess is €500 and the total cost of repairs is €750 the insurance company will pay €250.
There are also certain exclusions to an insurance policy: in the case of water escape from a domestic appliance this could include damage by wear and tear.
There are a number of reasons why the block insurance policy would not cover damage caused by the escape of water, including:
* The items damaged are your own contents and not insured under the block policy.
* The escape of water was not caused by an insurable risk (ie, due to wear and tear).
* The cost of repair is less than the excess on the policy
In addition to the block policy, it is prudent for each owner and resident to insure their own contents.
If any of the above reasons do not apply to your circumstances I suggest you request a claim form from your management agent and ask that they process your claim. If the claim is not covered, the insurance company will respond explaining why.
Paul Mooney is a member of the Property and Facilities Management Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
