Insurance solutions for residential strata properties

While Strata Insurance is mandatory for all Body Corporates, additional cover may be necessary depending on the structure and needs of your strata complex. This can include Office Bearers’ Liability Insurance to protect committee members from personal liability, Catastrophe Cover for added protection in disaster-prone areas, and Workers Compensation if the Body Corporate employs staff. It is also important to consider Public Liability and Legal Expenses Insurance to help insure risks related to third party injury, property damage, or legal disputes. These additional policies help ensure comprehensive protection for both the property and those responsible for managing it. 

Strata Insurance is designed to protect the building structure and shared areas of a property. In many cases, it also covers permanent fixtures inside each unit—like built-in stoves, tiling, and doors. However, Strata Insurance does not cover the personal contents inside your individual unit. This means items such as but not limited to: 

• Furniture and non-fixed appliances
• Floor and window coverings
• Light fittings, electronics, and other personal belongings

These are the responsibility of the unit owner or occupant to insure separately.

Importantly, Strata Insurance only covers legal liability occurring on common property, so it only protects the Body Corporate against third party claims for property damage and personal injury sustained in common areas. When it comes to personal injury or property damage sustained at an individual unit (which may include non-shared areas such as a unit’s front garden or back courtyard), the liability falls to the owner/occupant. 

Owners/occupants require their own insurance to protect contents not covered by the Strata Insurance and also to protect against Legal Liability inside their unit (and possibly in their back or front courtyards too). Different insurance policies can provide the protection required based on occupancy (e.g. home contents for owner-occupiers, or Landlord Insurance and renters’ contents cover for leased units). 

The management of Strata Insurance typically falls under the responsibility of a strata manager, property manager, or a unit owner who has been authorised to oversee the policy on behalf of the owners (Body Corporate). Generally, each property owner within the strata building shares the cost of the Strata Insurance as part of their strata fees (Strata Insurance premiums are usually paid for out of the building’s administrative fund, which is fed by the strata levy paid by owners).