Management Company and Building Insurance

[sydney73]

Hi,

Hoping that somebody might be able to provide some advice.

Background
I live in an estate that comprises both apartment blocks and townhouses. The apartment blocks are leasehold, while the townhouses are freehold.

The freehold townhouses do have a Lease of Easement on the common areas, but the land and the premises are freehold.

The Indenture agreement clearly states that the management company only own the apartment blocks and the common areas, but not the houses or their lands.

Issue
I recently got my service charge invoice which includes building and structure insurance (was not aware that this was on my previous invoices but it was).

I already have building insurance with the a seperate insurance company (which I have my other policies with).

I have asked the Management Company to remove me from the insurance scheme, but they are refusing and telling me that I have to cancel my other insurance policy. This I am not willing to do.

Although I am a member of the management company, I am of the opinion that as I only signed a Lease of Easement,my membership is limited to my Lease of Easement, and therefore my contribution towards the maintainance of the common areas only.

They claim that they must insurance all houses within the estate due to the insurance policy, while I claim that as my house is freehold (solely in my name) that I should have the right to choose my own insurance provider.

I have offered to supply them with the necessary documentation to prove that the house has the required insurance, so that they can remove me from their building insurance scheme and I have also to pay my contribution towards the public liability insurance of the common area.

But to date, they have been a stone-wall no from them.

Questions:
As I am a freehold on the premises (including the building and the land upon which it stands) and therefore the management company hold no deeds of title on the same, do they have a right (or legal) obligation to insurance my premises ?

Does this not also violate my right under the consumer rights of goods and service act ? in relation to my freedom to choose the provider of my insurance service ?

How can address this if the management company are not willing to move on this ? (other than forking out €000s in legal fees)

Hope somebody can provide some information on this - Thanks

 

[Vanilla]

When you purchased this property you undertook to obey certain covenants and conditions which are part of the title. One of those conditions will have been to pay your share of the service charge. In order to ensure your compliance the property was sold by way of freehold on the actual house buy you have only a lease of the easements- which if you do not obey the covenants and conditions contained therein, is revocable. In other words if you do not pay your service charge you can be stopped from using all services running through the common areas and from entering and exiting your property. In most similar complexes the amount of the service charge payable is already quite different for the owner of a house than for the owner of an apartment- this is normally built into the deeds- so that apartment owners usually pay more for obvious reasons. If however this is not the case in your complex there is little you can do about it- the time to worry about such obligations was before you purchased, not after.

 

[sydney73]

Hi Thanks for the reply. To supply more information on this,

The Indenture agreement states that there are two budgets within the management company. Budget A is paid into solely my the apartments (for work on the apartments), while Budget B is paid into by both houses and apartments for mainitainance of common areas and services.

I have asked for copies of the AGM minutes for the last 5 years and also a breakdown of what service charge is due by houses and apartments for the previous 5 years, as I recall that there was a difference in the amount of service charge payable at the beginning. But now, the only difference is that the apartments pay an additional €50 per year, which both the management agent and the management compay have stated that this is to pay for the washing of the apartment complexes windows.

Therefore I now feel that I am now paying a share of the insurance premium for the apartment blocks.

 

[Dreamerb]

When you purchased this property you undertook to obey certain covenants and conditions which are part of the title. One of those conditions will have been to pay your share of the service charge.

I didn't gather that the OP was refusing to pay the service charge, though, but objected to the Management Company's purporting to insure and charging within the service charge for the privilege? If OP has the freehold on the house (and your point about lease of the easements is taken, but isn't that a bit separate), does that not mean that the mgt co can't possibly have an insurable interest in the house and therefore can't purport to insure it?

I'm really not clear on this, but it sounds to me as though OP is being charged for something that (s)he *can't* benefit from, because (s)he wouldn't be able to claim on the mgt co's policy if there were an incident.

Would much appreciate if someone can shed further light on this.