The Federal Government estimates that every year, more than 4500 fires across Australia are caused by cigarettes. One of the biggest causes of fire in apartments and other residential homes is cigarettes which have not been extinguished properly.
Fires in apartments can have a devastating effect on the whole apartment block. Apartment fires have the potential to spread heat, smoke and fire throughout the building very quickly, not only causing considerable damage but also putting the lives of residents at risk.
Some fires in apartments have been caused by a smoker on a balcony leaving it smoldering on an outside table on their deck. Or they flick it off their balcony and it lands on a balcony below, setting fire to items on the other occupant’s deck.
Increasing threat
Another increasing fire threat is overheating lithium batteries (officially known as lithium-ion batteries).
The greater use of these batteries has seen fires correspondingly increase. They are contained in everything from large-scale solar energy storage systems to hybrid and electric vehicles, and smaller scale devices like laptops. Most portable electronic devices use single lithium cells, such as cell phones, smart-watches and e-cigarettes. They are also now used extensively for higher-powered portable applications like power tools, remote-controlled vehicles, lawn mowers, bikes and scooters and even in children’s toys
Emergency Services departments warn that with the use of lithium batteries expected to increase over the next few years, this could result in a surge of preventable blazes.
Lithium batteries are extremely sensitive to high temperatures and highly flammable. They tend to degrade quickly due to heat. If a lithium battery pack fails, it will burst into flames and can cause widespread damage. Fires mainly start during charging.
Once lithium battery fires take hold, they are notoriously difficult to put out.
Apartment residents should be careful to keep them away from flammable material and ensure they use charging systems specifically manufactured for your product rather than less costly, unbranded versions.
Lithium batteries should not be left on a permanent charge— even overnight can trigger overheating. When the device is charged, it should be unplugged.
Be prepared
Strata communities can do a lot to minimise fire risks in their buildings.
Regular fire safety checks should be at the very top of the strata committee’s list. As strata property’s mandatory fire safety requirements will differ a little from state to state, each property’s strata committee should be aware of their local requirements.
Fire safety equipment, such as fire extinguishers, sprinklers and smoke alarms, should be serviced and maintained regularly to ensure they are in good working order and fire doors needed to be clear of any obstructions.
If there is a fire, it’s important the apartments have an evacuation plan, and all occupants are aware of it.
The soon to be implemented Owners Corporations and Other Acts Amendment Act 2021, requires that all Owners Corporations located in Victoria must hold a minimum of $20 million for Public Liability insurance from 1st December 2021.
CHU welcomes this reform to the Victorian strata laws increasing the requirement of each Owners Corporation to have increased liability cover.
As such, from 1st December, CHU is pleased to advise an automatic increase to the $20 million minimum liability insurance limit for all CHU Victoria strata insurance policies that currently have less than the required $20 million. This will be at no extra cost to the Owners Corporation.
The new limit of $20 million liability cover will apply to all current polices, new business quotations and renewals, with effect from 1st December 2021.
For more information on the new strata legislation and regulations please follow the click the link Owners Corporations and Other Acts Amendment Act 2021.
Australia’s leading strata insurance specialist CHU and its digital underwriting agency Flex Insurance are waiving bushfire claim excesses for residential strata buildings, community associations and community association lot owner homes, contents and landlords for strata.
“This is a vital first step to help customers start to get their lives back on track,”
CHU CEO Bobby Lehane
In addition, CHU and Flex, in partnership with our insurer QBE, are helping customers by:
- Providing additional resources to process claims as quickly as possible.
- Deploying the CHU Assess team in heavily impacted areas to expedite the claims process.
- Organising emergency and temporary accommodation assistance.
For more information click here to download our FAQ document which may help you.
If you or your customers have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on our emergency hotline 1300 361 263 or lodge a claim online.
Strata, also known as strata title or strata scheme, allows for individual ownership of part of a property called a ‘lot’. A lot can be an individual apartment, unit or townhouse.
A strata-titled property owner, as well as owning the lot, also shares ownership of common property – such as driveways, gardens, lifts – with other lot owners.
Underinsurance of strata properties is a major growing concern, according to CHU, Australia’s leading strata insurance specialist.
Confusion over what your strata building insurance policy covers is the main cause of underinsurance.
For example, did you know that your mandatory residential strata insurance (insurance that the owners corporation/ body corporate have to cover the building, common property and common area contents of a strata scheme) does not cover your personal property or liability within your apartment?
There is a great misunderstanding as to what is covered by the residential strata insurance. Many customers believe much of their personal contents will be covered by this residential strata policy. This is not the case and they are often left underinsured and under protected.
From CHU’s internal data more than 30%** of CHU strata building claims affect personal property, including claims from water damage, natural events, fire, accidental damage, malicious damage and theft.
A separate contents or landlords’ insurance policy is vital to protect your personal belongings, as well as protecting you against legal liability or damage to another person’s property within your unit.
Whether a renter/tenant or lot owner, it’s important you have clear understanding of what residential strata insurance covers and what landlord and contents insurance does so you can fully protect yourself and your personal belongings. To avoid confusion between which items are insurable under the policies issued by CHU, we have provided some guidance.
What is covered by your residential strata building insurance?
Residential strata insurance provides general insurance cover for the building, shared or ‘common’ areas, common property and common area contents and legal liability in common areas:
| Area | Items Covered Strata Building Insurance Include |
| Building* Refers to all buildings and underground services erected upon the building block forming the Strata Plan, including fencing as well as all permanent fixtures and fittings within a Lot. | • Baths • Toilets • Ducted air conditioners • Windows • Hand basins • Sinks • Built in cupboards • Fixed tiling • Floating floors • Shower screens • Doors • Paintwork • Wallpapering • Public light fittings |
| Common area contents* | • Carpets, floating floors, other temporary wall, floor and ceiling coverings within hallways and lobbies; • Pot plants, mirrors, and other decorations within common areas; • Appliances such as washing machines and dryers owned by the Body Corporate and used by all unit owners and housed in common laundries; • Any barbeque equipment, gardening equipment and garden or indoor furniture owned by the Body Corporate. |
*Based on CHU’s Residential Strata Insurance Plan
What is covered by contents or landlords insurance?
Contents will cover your household and personal possessions, such as clothing, jewellery, furniture, TV, carpets and electrical appliances. It covers the cost of repairing or replacing these possessions in the event of loss or damage. Landlords insurance will also cover loss of rent if the tenants leave or if the unit becomes unfit to be occupied.
Contents or Landlords Insurance will cover:
| Area | Items Covered By Contents & Landlords Insurance |
| Contents^ | • Portable contents in and away from home • Accidental damage • $30m Legal Liability • Malicious damage • Personal possessions protected • Flood cover • High value items • Protection from fire, explosions, storms, earthquakes, theft and water |
| Landlords^ | • Loss of rent if your tenant departs (6 weeks) • Loss of rentable value if your property is unfit to be occupied (52 weeks) • Tenant theft and malicious damage • Flood cover • $30m Legal Liability • Cover for loss or damage from water damage, fire and storms • Accidental damage and loss cover for contents you provide for use by your tenant/s |
^Based on CHU’s Landlords and Contents Insurance for Strata Policies. For more information about CHU’s Landlords and Contents Insurance policies head to CHU Landlords Insurance for Strata and CHU Contents Insurance for Strata.
Legal Liability
A very important component of landlords and contents insurance is what’s called legal liability cover. Legal liability cover protects you against financial loss if your actions, negligence or the condition of your property is found to cause a person to be injured or killed.
It’s important you read the residential strata policy purchased by the body corporate/ owners corporation to understand what is and is not covered inside your lot/unit so you can take out the appropriate content or landlords cover. Insurance on these items is the responsibility of the owner or tenant and not part of the residential strata insurance policy.
For more information about CHU’s Landlords and Contents Insurance policies head to CHU Landlords Insurance for Strata and CHU Contents Insurance for Strata.
Excess Waived
CHU is one of Australia’s largest and most awarded underwriting agencies. If your residential strata insurance is managed by CHU you receive these additional benefits:
- Save on your excess payment: if CHU insures your building and you and the body corporate / owners corporate make a valid claim for the same incident.
- Speedier repairs: If your personal property and building is damaged in the same incident, your property will be repaired or replaced quicker.
** Estimate based on CHU Assess claims
CHU Underwriting Agencies Pty Ltd (ABN 18 001 580 070, AFS Licence No: 243261) acts under a binding authority as agent of the insurer QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited (ABN 78 003 191 035, AFS Licence No: 239545). Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply to the products referred to above. Any advice in this article is general advice only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making a decision to acquire any product(s) or to continue to hold any product we recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement which can be viewed on this website or obtained by contacting CHU directly.
Read about the impacts from the amendments to the Terrorism Insurance Act.
Following a review of our current excess structure for CHU’s Residential Strata Insurance Plan, our minimum excess will be increasing from $300 to $500 for all renewals due on or after 15 October 2018.
This change takes into account:
- recognition of the increasing cost of claims in the market generally
- encouraging Body Corporates / Owners Corporations to play a more active role in risk funding
- keeping our pricing economical.
If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact your local CHU branch.