block insurance on a apartament

transam

i have a quick question , we live in a apartament that we bought 4 years ago , our block insurance went up to 280 this year , the management company just sends us the bill without any info on who is the insurer and is the quote obtained from a variety of insurance sources in order to acquire the most competitive sum for my apartment block insurance. i've sent an email to Management company couple of days ago asking about the details but i m still waiting for the replay , did anyone had similar expirience with Management companys??

Otis Driftwood

Im afraid you are pretty much snookered.If the management company has told you thats the best price then you have to pay it because an insurance company cannot insure an apartment on its own for structural/flood/fire damage.

You can insure your contents separately for the above perils ie fire damage,damage from flooding or theft (which you should if you havnt already) but thats about it.

ravima

get more involved in the management with other owners. Maybe you could manage it yourselves and not pay a management fee. Then you could shop around for better quotes in everything, insurance, refuse, maintenance, painting etc.

iPearly

I also live in a block apartment. There are 4 of them in the block and 2 are owned by the builder and one by me and another one by a single lady. The management company is charging us €450 for fees ( the only thing they do is cut grass once a month) They were originally supposed to have playground and ponds and many more things but the building has stopped long time ago. Would anyone know what would happen if I stopped paying them? The builder is renting the 2 apartments that are attached to my block so I assume he has to have the insurance anyhow to protect himself.

transam

our fees on top of the block insurance are about 150 for cutting the grass and cleaning the estate etc. last year i had similar idea - dont pay them , it wasnt long before i got letter from the solicitors so i had to pay , it my be similar in ur case , any way still waiting for the replay for my email to managment company , i wonder what is the exact valuation of my property upon which this quote is based.cant be the same as let say 3years ago

Otis Driftwood

Even though re-building costs have reduced drastically over the last few years,the amount of claims has gone through the roof forcing premiums up so unfortunately for most consumers they are paying around the same as what they paid over the last few years but their buildings and contents are covered for much less.

tHE vAGGABOND

Ours also went up for two reasons, a massive amount of small/petty claims [a big volume of claims is something which insurance companies hate] and we had a fire in one apartment a couple of years ago [so one MASSIVE claim]. Both of which are red flags to insurance companies.

So we had issues getting a quote at all, so had to suck it and see when we got a big one. The hopes would be that we dont have those issues for a year or two, and it should go down again.

I know all this as I am on the residents committee and have been involved in MANY discussions about it. If you live in any kind of complex at all, I think your frankly insane not to be involved in your version of said committee.

transam

the guy from the managment company is not replaying for the emails and letters that im sending him , it looks like hes avoiding me , we have a managment company meeting some time next week so i will have to see him in person with a 4th copy of my letter to him , he makes my blood boil

GSF

Having been involved in this area the reason the insurance costs are going up is mainly claims related. A lot of water damage was caused by the cold weather freeze and subsequent thaw in December. Flats, apartments and duplexes are particularly susceptible to this. The mangt company should shop around but ultimately they may have to pay more than last year.

RATM

OP would advise you to keep on to the Mgmt Co about seeing did they get 3 quotes, asking for copies, etc. Had a mate in the same situation as yourself and after they tried to fob him off he got even more determined. The end of the story was that the mgmt co. had insurance on 8 different apartment complexes but only had one bill, not 8. So he is still looking into it but his suspicion is that the mgmt co. are getting decent discounts for buying the insurance in bulk but they are not passing them on to the residents.