Property cover
Our capabilities extend from individual residential properties to commercial and industrial buildings, with options including:
- Commercial sectional titles
- Home owners’ associations
- Property owners combined
- Residential sectional titles
Who this suits
Community-scheme and property insurance suits the people responsible for buildings shared by, or let to, others:
- Trustees of sectional title schemes, residential and commercial
- Managing agents looking after several schemes
- Directors and committees of home owners’ associations
- Owners of commercial, industrial and mixed-use buildings
- Landlords with residential or commercial rental portfolios
- Developers handing a new scheme over to its first trustees
Problems we help with
The situations that most often bring people to us, and that a review is designed to catch.
Buildings insured below replacement value
Sectional title schemes must obtain a replacement valuation at least every three years. Without one, the sum insured drifts and a large claim can be reduced.
Geysers, burst pipes and water damage
The most frequent claims in schemes. Excess structures, who pays what, and whether the geyser itself is covered cause most of the disputes.
Confusion over who is responsible
Common property, sections, exclusive-use areas and owners’ own contents fall under different policies. Owners often assume the scheme covers more than it does.
Missing statutory cover
Fidelity insurance, which schemes are required to hold, and adequate public liability are sometimes overlooked at renewal.
Trustees exposed personally
Decisions taken in good faith can still be challenged. Trustees’ indemnity cover protects the people who volunteer.
Renewals that nobody has time for
Schedules renew unchanged because trustees and agents are stretched, not because the cover has been checked.
What happens during a review
A review is a conversation, not a commitment. Here is how it usually runs.
- 01
We gather the documents
Current schedule, latest replacement valuation, claims history, management rules and details of shared facilities such as lifts, pools and security.
- 02
We test the sums insured and the structure
Replacement value against valuation, Sasria, fidelity, public liability, trustees’ indemnity, geyser cover, loss of rent and the excess structure owners will actually face.
- 03
We compare specialist insurers
Community schemes are a specialist market. We approach insurers experienced in sectional title and property portfolios.
- 04
We present it in plain terms
A short summary trustees can table at a meeting, with the reasons for each recommendation and what changes for owners.
- 05
We stay involved
Owner queries, claims, certificates for bond holders and the next renewal are handled through one team.
For trustees, managing agents and property owners
Have the current insurance schedule, latest building valuation, claims history and details of shared facilities available. Tell us about maintenance concerns, new installations or changes to the property.
Before we speak
What should trustees prepare?+
A current building valuation, policy schedule and record of relevant changes help focus the review. The team can explain what further information the insurer needs.
Is every type of damage insured?+
No. Cover depends on insured events, conditions, exclusions and excesses. Maintenance obligations and gradual deterioration should be considered separately from insured damage.
Plain-English guide
Terms you will see on schedules and quotes, explained without the jargon.
- Body corporate
- The legal entity made up of all owners in a sectional title scheme. Trustees act on its behalf.
- Sectional title
- A form of ownership where you own a section, such as a flat or unit, and share the common property with other owners.
- Common property
- Everything in a scheme that is not part of a section: driveways, gardens, roofs, external walls, lifts and shared pipes.
- Home owners’ association
- A body that manages shared roads, security and facilities in an estate of freehold homes. Its insurance needs differ from a body corporate.
- Property owners combined
- A single policy that brings together buildings, contents, liability and loss of rent for a commercial or residential property.
- Replacement value
- What it would cost to demolish and rebuild the buildings today, including professional fees and VAT. Not the market value.
- Loss of rent
- Cover for rental income lost while a damaged property cannot be occupied.
- Fidelity insurance
- Cover against dishonesty by trustees, managing agents or employees handling the scheme’s money.
- Trustees’ indemnity
- Cover for trustees and directors against claims arising from decisions made in their role.
- Exclusive-use area
- Part of the common property, such as a parking bay or garden, that one owner has the right to use.