Advice on Damage to Apartment Due to Faulty Building Pipes

LPsul2006 on 08/01/2018 - 08:43
Last edited 08/01/2018 - 15:27 by 1 other user

We live on the ground floor of our apartment building which has systemic issues with the hot water pipes outside of our unit.

The pipes installed when new have repeatedly burst, and since we are the ground floor, all the leaks up the building end up in our unit. Due to this, our floorboards have shrunk and now have large gaps between them creating sharp edges and trip hazards. Luckily the building owners corporation have successfully won an insurance claim for the pipes to be repaired.

Due to the state of the floor and since we are expecting a baby in 6 weeks we were hoping to get the building management to pay for the replacement of the floorboards. Our strata manager has replied saying the insurance company refuses to pay for any repairs until after the pipes are fixed, and building management will not pay out any repairs that are covered by insurance.

The problem is the insurance claim has been going for over 5 years and the works probably won't be finished for another 3.
I contacted fair trading who said building management is only responsible for repairing the pipes not repairs caused by the leaks in peoples apartments.

I could use my own insurance but that would mean I have to pay my own excess as well as the chance premiums will go up. What are people thoughts on what I should do.

UPDATE*
I have recently spoke to my home insurer who have refused to payout because they do not cover faulty workmanship. They have told me I should contact the financial ombudsman.

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  DarkOz on 08/01/2018 - 09:32

  +3

  Claim your contents insurance against building owners corporation. It's your insurance company's job to claim this for you.

  If the building owners corporation can't claim this on their insurance that's their problem not yours. I don't think you have to pay excess fee or your premium will go up next year because you are not at fault.

  Give your insurance company a call and ask them to confirm the above.

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    Psul2006 on 08/01/2018 - 12:51

    Yes I did call my insurance company but didn't bring up anything about not having to pay excess I will call again and see what they say.

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  thatonethere on 08/01/2018 - 11:32

  Id get some quotes for repairs/replacement and yes wait for pipes to be fixed. Then give the body corp a chance to pay or else (ie claim on your insurance which will increase the body corp insurance if your insurance hits them up. They may not if it is a small amount in their eyes. Im sure their lawyers have $10k lunches).

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    Psul2006 on 08/01/2018 - 12:54

    I don't think I should have to wait if the floorboards are in my opinion now a safety hazard. I'll try with my insurance but don't think it is fair for me to have to make a claim and pay the excess if it's not my fault for the damage. If I didn't have insurance sure I can't be expected to just live with it.

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  CyberMurning on 08/01/2018 - 12:17

  hey i got the same thing few years ago the building manager/strata didnt even say sorry they said its inside units so its your problem full stop.

  basically the water pipe outside (for fire emergency thing, the one with red hose) had leaked/burst. water went in to the apartments.

  i ended up need to hire dryer to dry the carpet, and fixed few things in the apartment by my own money - lucky tenants didnt ask for compensation.

  i really think they should have paid for everything that happened because the issue is from outside the unit.