How your strata manager, insurance broker and claims team help guide the process
Discovering damage to your strata property is stressful. Whether it’s water coming through the ceiling, damage to flooring or walls, or part of your property that can’t be used safely, it can quickly raise a lot of questions.
What needs to happen first? Who should be contacted? Who is responsible? How long will it take?
The good news is, you don’t need to work through those questions on your own. Behind the scenes, your strata manager, insurance broker and claims team are all working together to gather information, clarify responsibilities, liaise with insurers, coordinate next steps and help guide the claim through each stage of the process.
While it may not always be obvious from the outside, there’s a lot happening in the background. Understanding what that looks like means owners are more prepared, more informed and ultimately more confident in the claims process.
A common example: Water damage
Water damage is one of the easiest ways to explain why strata claims can involve multiple moving parts. At first glance, the issue may seem simple. Water has entered a lot, damage has occurred, repairs are needed.
In practice, there are questions that need to be answered before the claim can move forward. For example:
- Where did the water come from?
- Was the source located in common property or inside a private lot?
- Was the damage sudden and accidental, or caused by gradual deterioration?
- Has the issue been repaired or made safe?
- Which parts of the damage relate to the building?
- Are any personal contents, tenant belongings or landlord-related losses involved?
- Does the strata policy respond to the circumstances of the claim?
The answers to these questions help your strata manager, insurance broker and claims team support the claim effectively and efficiently.
The clearer the information is at the start, the easier it is to understand what happened, where the damage began and which parts of the property have been affected.
In turn, this helps the insurer assess whether the strata policy responds, what may be covered and whether other cover, such as contents insurance or landlord insurance, may also need to be considered.
What’s happening behind the scenes
While owners are waiting for an update, work may already be well underway.
Your strata manager will be gathering information, arranging access, communicating with affected owners, lodging claim details, liaising with the insurance broker or insurer, arranging emergency works and keeping records of what has occurred!
Your insurance broker and claims team will be reviewing the information provided, speaking with the insurer, checking how the policy may respond and helping to support the claim swiftly through the required steps.
In some cases, other specialists may also be involved, such as plumbers, builders, assessors, loss adjusters, engineers or restoration providers. Each may have a different role in confirming what happened, assessing the damage or determining what repairs are required.
This background work is important because clear information, good records and the right technical input help the claim move forward smoothly and efficiently.
Why some claims need extra review
Some claims can move quickly, while others need a little more work to get the best outcome. That might involve confirming the cause of damage, arranging repairs, checking quotes or bringing in the right specialists. It may not always be visible to owners, but this behind-the-scenes work helps keep the claim moving in the right direction.
A claim may need extra time because:
- Access needs to be arranged to inspect the affected area
- The source of damage needs to be identified
- Further reports, photos or invoices are required
- More than one lot or area of common property is involved
- Quotes are needed from repairers
- Contractors or assessors are managing high demand after weather events
- Safety or emergency works need to be completed first
In strata, one incident can affect many people. A water leak, for example, may involve the lot where the leak started, the lot below, common property, private contents and potentially landlord-related losses.
This is why the process can sometimes take longer than owners expect, even when everyone involved is actively working toward an outcome.
What happens if a claim is declined?
A declined claim doesn’t mean the damage didn’t occur. It means the insurer has determined that the circumstances do not fall within the cover provided by the policy.
For example, a strata policy may respond to sudden and accidental damage, but not gradual deterioration, wear and tear, poor maintenance or pre-existing issues. In other cases, part of the damage may be covered, while another part may fall outside the strata policy and need to be considered under contents insurance, landlord insurance or by the individual lot owner.
This is why identifying the cause of damage is so important, along with having an active maintenance plan in place. The visible damage is only one part of the claim. The insurer also needs to understand what happened, why it happened and whether the issue relates to a covered event or an ongoing maintenance matter.
Where a claim is declined, the decision may still be reviewed. This can involve considering the insurer’s reasoning, checking the relevant policy wording, reviewing reports and determining whether any further information should be provided.
This is where the right support is invaluable. Your strata manager can help coordinate information and keep communication moving, while your insurance broker and claims team can review the decision, ask questions, clarify the policy position and support the review process.
How owners can help keep things moving
Owners can also play an important role in helping a claim progress as smoothly as possible. Where safe to do so, it is helpful to:
- Report damage as soon as possible
- Take clear photos or videos of the damage
- Keep damaged items until advised otherwise
- Provide access when inspections are required
- Keep copies of invoices, reports or correspondence
- Respond promptly if further information is requested
- Avoid arranging non-urgent repairs without guidance, as this may affect the claim
- Let your strata manager know if the issue worsens or new damage appears
In urgent situations, the first priority is always safety and preventing further damage. Once the immediate issue is under control, clear information and good records can make a significant difference.
There’s more to a claim than meets the eye
When a claim is underway, it’s not always easy to see how things are progressing. From the outside, it may seem like things have paused – even when work is continuing in the background. If you are unsure where things are up to, contact your strata manager and ask for an update on the current status, what is being reviewed and what the next step is.
Transparency builds confidence
Understanding what is happening behind the scenes can make the claims process feel clearer and more manageable. It helps owners see that delays are not always a sign that nothing is happening – often, they reflect the information gathering, review and coordination needed to support the claim properly.
Not every claim can be resolved immediately, and not every type of damage will be covered. However, when owners understand what is being reviewed, who is involved and what steps are being worked through, they are better placed to navigate the process with confidence.
Most importantly, owners are not left to manage this alone. Your strata manager, insurance broker and claims team are there to help guide the claim, ask the right questions and keep working toward an outcome.
If you would like to better understand the strata insurance claims process, your strata manager is a good place to start. Where Whitbread manages the claim, their dedicated claims team are always happy to help explain what is happening, what is being reviewed and what to expect next.
If your policy is not held through a broker, like Whitbread, your strata manager will communicate directly with insurer.