Advice Needed: Strata Refusing Responsibility for Water/Limestone Damage to Car in Secured Parking Spot

Ozbarganator 2000 on 17/07/2024 - 17:03
Last edited 18/07/2024 - 09:37 by 1 other user

Hello everyone, I'm in a bit of a tricky situation and could use some advice. Here's what happened:

I have a dedicated secured car spot in my apartment building. During heavy rain, water dripped from the ceiling onto my car. The water contained limestone, which caused minor damage to my car's exterior
I reported this to the strata, but they're refusing to take responsibility or pay for repairs

I'm feeling frustrated and unsure about my options. Does anyone have experience with similar situations or know what my rights are in this case?

I'd appreciate any advice on:

Is the strata legally responsible for this kind of damage?
What steps should I take to pursue this further?
Are there any specific regulations or laws I should be aware of?
Should I consider getting a professional assessment of the damage?

Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Home & Garden Strata

Comments

  • Duckie2hh on 17/07/2024 - 17:04
    +1

    Does the parking area have a "park at owner's risk" sign?

    • Ozbarganator 2000 on 17/07/2024 - 17:07
      -7

      Yes, but it was in response to garages/cars being robbed.
      Also to clarify, it's a secured car space/garage that I bought together with the apartment.
      It's not optional for me to park there.

      • TALL1one on 17/07/2024 - 18:51

        Why do you think this? "Yes, but it was in response to garages/cars being robbed."

      • jellykingdom on 18/07/2024 - 13:54
        +1

        I dunno why people are negging the poor guy. The "park at owners risk" is clearly related to theft, vandalism etc, maybe minor damage from car accidents. Would you be saying "suck it up mate!" if the entire building collapsed on his car??

  • Simoneee on 17/07/2024 - 17:07
    +3

    First step would be contacting your insurance

    • Ozbarganator 2000 on 17/07/2024 - 17:08

      Have contacted them. They told me that they don't normally deal with strata and the excess will be payable in advance.

      • JimmyF on 17/07/2024 - 18:39
        +4

        and the excess will be payable in advance.

        That is correct, it would be classed as a 'at fault' claim on you.

        • WhatWouldBiggieDo on 18/07/2024 - 14:24
          -2

          No it wouldn't. It would be classed as a 'not at fault' claim but the excess would be payable until such a time as the Insurance company work out whether they can recover the cost of repairs. If it turns out that the costs were unable to be recovered, it would still be a 'not at fault' claim, albeit one where an excess applies (such as flood damage, hitting an animal, vandalism, theft etc).

          • JimmyF on 18/07/2024 - 14:57

            @WhatWouldBiggieDo:

            It would be classed as a 'not at fault' claim but the excess would be payable

            No such thing, it's either a at fault claim, or it's a not at fault claim.

            it would still be a 'not at fault' claim, albeit one where an excess applies (such as flood damage, hitting an animal, vandalism, theft etc).

            These are all 'at fault claims' in the insurance world.

            LOL to think that hitting an animal while driving isn't your fault. Going to send a dead animal a invoice to pay for repairs?

            • WhatWouldBiggieDo on 18/07/2024 - 15:01

              @JimmyF: As someone who worked in the insurance industry, I can assure you there is a 'not at fault' claim where the excess is still payable. What about hail, is that an 'at fault claim'?

              If you're driving along and a kangaroo jumps into the side of your car, it's not really your fault is it? I think you are assuming that paying your excess and being at fault/not at fault are not mutually exclusive, but they are.

              It's a shame you feel the need to neg people who point out your mistakes.

  • BillyStm on 17/07/2024 - 17:16
    +2

    Whilst renting i had a similar situation (albeit was reimbursed by home owner not strata after around 10 months of back and forth correspondence mind you), ended up settling an agreed amount after having it assessed for repairs.

    They did then try altering the lease agreement to state park at own risk, not liable etc but I didn't renew the lease at the time.

    G101 was the solution recommended to me by the autoshop to try to get as much off as possible myself. (it's the product they use)

    Maybe ask to review strata meeting notes to see if its a known fault in the building that hasn't been addressed/rectified.

  • altomic on 17/07/2024 - 17:23
    -1

    What make and model of car?

  • Davo1111 on 17/07/2024 - 17:45
    +3

    Nah, i dont think strata are responcible unless they were proven negligent.

    If they knew of the problem, then you might have an argument.

    Pay your excess and move on

    (tbh if your car is that susceptable to be damaged from a single water dripping event, i think there is a bigger issue)

  • Drakesy on 17/07/2024 - 18:47
    +2

    Are you parked in like a cave or something?

    Also pics or it didn't happen.

    • pegaxs on 17/07/2024 - 23:04

      Pics show lime, cheers…

  • Ocker on 17/07/2024 - 18:58
    +1

    You are screwed.
    If there is a sign saying ""park at owner's risk" your complaint goes no further.

    • Ozbarganator 2000 on 17/07/2024 - 19:04
      +1

      that could work for a public parking or a visitor parking, I don't see how this could work for the area inside my own garage.

      • Ocker on 17/07/2024 - 19:15
        +1

        I guess it depends where the sign is located and how the body corp applies the caution.
        Realistically, if the sign is located in the general area of the car park then they will argue it applies to the entire car park.
        Do you really expect a sign in each and every car parking location?

        • Ozbarganator 2000 on 17/07/2024 - 19:21

          it's in a general car park area. I don't expect it to be in every parking spot. What I meant is that it's not optional for me to park there as it's my own garage and the water membrane inside the garage's ceiling is a clear responsibility of body corporate. It seems strange that they could remove their liability simply by placing a sign in a general area.

          • gromit on 18/07/2024 - 13:41

            @Ozbarganator 2000: whether you use the car park or not is entirely optional, while obviously not convenient to not use it that doesn't change the situation.

  • morse on 17/07/2024 - 19:31

    I rented a cheap apartment years ago and on inspection saw this issue in the car spot. Dextered the walls and ceiling whilst waiting to see if owner would rectify. They did not.

    Basically we plastic wrapped (paint drop sheets from Bunnings) the walls and ceiling. It contained the lime there was also a car wash bay in the building and we regularly rinsed since coastal.

    This might be harder in a larger complex. But I think very hard to re-coup costs for damage once it’s already happened.

  • bdl on 17/07/2024 - 19:42

    How long was the limestone water left on the paint?

  • Muzeeb on 17/07/2024 - 19:46

    What was there first? The limestone infested concrete structure or your car?

  • ronnknee on 17/07/2024 - 20:17
    -1

    NCAT.

  • Mikefr on 17/07/2024 - 20:46
    +1

    Happened whilst in the Batcave

  • AngoraFish on 17/07/2024 - 21:14
    +5

    Man, of all the crappy threads of advice on OzBargain, this one is really up there.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 17/07/2024 - 21:44
    +1

    Same deal as parking outside during hail. Pay the insurance excess if the "minor" damage is so hideous you cannot drive the vehicle.

  • resubaehtgnolhcs on 18/07/2024 - 00:14

    Act of god

    • Nugs on 18/07/2024 - 03:17
      +1

      So it's fiction?
      .

      • jv on 18/07/2024 - 11:25

        No

        • Nugs on 18/07/2024 - 11:36

          Are you saying it was Gary Snr?
          .

  • elgrande on 18/07/2024 - 07:32
    +1

    Ah yes, the drippy appartment car park. I've had this and it ruined my paint.

  • bweiss on 18/07/2024 - 07:48

    Are you an owner-occupier, or renting?

    If renting, you could try to go after the landlord for it… but it seems unlikely.

    Here's an analogy…
    You buy a carpark outside (in some 'secure lot'). There's a tree that towers over the carpark, that was in place at the time you purchased, and was advertised as not being your property, so not in your rights to have it altered or moved.
    Birds land in the tree and shit on your car.
    You can try to sue the birds if you want, or the tree owner… but it's been tried, there's a whole slew of court cases worldwide that show that councils are not responsible for the damage that their trees / consequences of their trees have on vehicles in street parking.
    I think you'd struggle to prove (in court) how this is a different situation. If you're claiming negligent maintenance of the roof, you'd need evidence of this having been reported PRIOR to the incident in question, and it would become a question of whether it would 'be reasonably practicable' for the strata to repair this issue in the balance of the situation (such as the potential damage eventuating from the defect, the cost to repair the defect, or mitigations available to others that are aware of the defect).

    If I was the strata, and you took me to court, I'd be pretty happy… you'll say that you sent emails to 'make me aware'.. I'd question why you took no action yourself to reduce the impact, like using a car cover. The judge would find in my favour, I'd claim it was a frivolous suit, and that all my legal expenses should be reasonably claimable from you… that would be in the realm of $20-40k depending on which lawyers I've engaged.

  • Brian McGee on 18/07/2024 - 08:06
    +1

    Is the strata legally responsible for this kind of damage?

    Where they notified of the leaking issue previously and failed to take action, or is this the first time it has happened/you have noticed?

    What steps should I take to pursue this further?

    Ensure they are putting in place either repairs to the building or proper drainage to mitigate the leak dripping on your vehicle.

    Are there any specific regulations or laws I should be aware of?

    If this has been reported before and no action taken it is negligence on the part of the strata. If it hasn't been reported until now they areen't negligent for something they don't know about.

    Should I consider getting a professional assessment of the damage?

    No harm in finding out if it's just paint correction needed or full panel resprays.

    Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

    I had similar problems with my strata. Leaking garden drain leaking onto my car, rectified with a hanging drip tray and downpipe to the side of the spot. Also leaking through the garden bed in my 2nd spot, through the concrete,, which was also rectified by a hanging drip tray (no downsput on this one as it was 5 or so drops an hour, but still stained the paintwork).
    I've also had a lamp shade fall from ~4m and scratch my roof and bonnet, this happened about 1 month after all the fluro tubes were replaced by the strata sparky. I took photos and made a claim against strata,they declined and said they didn't know the over was loose and that I should've told them. Even after I argued I dont go around with my neck at 45° upward al the time so it was nigh on impossible for me to notice until i found 2 steel end plates and a 1m plastic cover littered around my car.

    In short, insurance are cnuts and good luck.

    • Ozbarganator 2000 on 18/07/2024 - 10:20
      +1

      Thank you for your reply! This is exactly what is happening to me. I also have a garden bed on top of my garage.

      I've noticed this problem years ago when I bought the apartment. They told me that the membrane has failed and it's too expensive to fix it so they installed a tray and a drain pipe instead.

      During the last heavy rainfall that installation has failed and this time the water drip has damaged my car.
      Now the strata plumber came to install a bigger tray.

      Does anyone have any advice how to get strata to fix the membrane to eliminate this issue in the future?

      • Brian McGee on 18/07/2024 - 11:35
        +3

        Funny you say that, my block is now calling a special levy to replace the membrane at a cost of $100 000.00.

        I would make a claim on the strata insurance since they knew about the issue and their 'repair/rectification' failed. They knew about it and didn't take appropriate action, sounds like a negligent or neglectful action that caused loss/damage to me. Speak to your comprehensive insurer and see what they have to say or can help you with.

  • jv on 18/07/2024 - 11:21

    I reported this to the strata, but they're refusing to take responsibility or pay for repairs

    Maybe because they aren't to blame…

  • Baysew on 18/07/2024 - 12:18

    What was the cost of the damage to your car?

  • jonkvh on 18/07/2024 - 12:49

    If they already knew about the problem, just attend the Body Corporate meetings in person, and let them all know. That's how it's done.

  • neil on 18/07/2024 - 13:04
    +1

    As part of an OC committee, with a car park that had leaking water & limestone that damaged a car, the OC is responsible if the leaks emanate from a common property. We have paid for a car repair.

    I'd just send them a letter stating if they don't pay you will seek legal remedy and include an estimate of how much it will cost to repair car if you haven't already. Engaging legal advice can cost $1000s for an OC so its mostly easier to just settle these things. Starting a case at NCAT/VCAT costs little for a consumer

    I've noticed this problem years ago when I bought the apartment. They told me that the membrane has failed and it's too expensive to fix it so they installed a tray and a drain pipe instead.

    Similar situation but we eventually got it fixed.

  • Zephyrus on 18/07/2024 - 13:18

    If you want me to google this for you

    https://tlfc.com.au/common-property-defects-and-water-issues…

  • MITM on 18/07/2024 - 14:00

    I've noticed this problem years ago when I bought the apartment.

    This is what happens with leaking into basement

  • jebbyc on 18/07/2024 - 14:45

    I've had this happen to me and the hotel I was parked in didn't seem too keen to get it fixed.

    Luckily I was able to use dilute vinegar to get the lime scale off with no damage so no harm no foul in the end. Good luck!

  • Seraphin7 on 18/07/2024 - 14:55

    Strata are known for simply knocking back any claim that is made against them. Prepare yourself for A LOT of back and forth on this one if you want them to cough up.

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