Property Clinic

Q I own a top floor apartment and some roof slates were blown off during last winter's storms. In addition to the dislodged slates, there was considerable internal damage to the apartment.

A claim was submitted by the management company and has now been paid, however, there is a €1,500 policy excess. The management company is insisting that I pay this excess. Can they do this?

A Most insurance policies have a claims excess, which is the amount of each and every claim that is borne by the insured.

In the incident described by you, there were two elements of damage. The first element was the roof of the structure which is presumably the property of your owners’ management company while the second is the damage to your apartment.

Both the repair of the roof slates and the reinstatement of your apartment were covered under the same claim and a single excess would have been deducted from the settlement by the management company insurer.

Management companies differ in the way they treat claims excesses. Many adopt a policy of the excess always being met by the affected and claiming apartment owner, others apportion the excess between the areas damaged depending on the quantum of claim while others look to the cause of the damage to determine who bears the cost of the excess.

One could argue that as the roof is common areas one should not be penalised for owning a top-floor apartment and that the excess should be borne by the management company.

I would recommend you look to the management company for their policy regarding the treatment of insurance claim excesses and make the case that the proximate cause of the damage to your apartment was from a common area.

I would presume the repair works to the roof formed part of the claim and as such the deduction of the entire excess from your costs would appear unfair.

Paul Mooney, chartered surveyor and member of the SCSI Property & Facilities Management Professional Group

Q Myself and my wife recently purchased a two bedroom semi-detached home in south Dublin. One of the bedroom walls borders the house's pipelines. It has become apparent that whenever hot water is running, the pipes produce a dreadfully loud, high-pitched noise. The noisy area seems to extend across a 2-3ft section of the wall.

There is a little door near the floor, but we can’t access most of the pipes without punching holes in the wall, so wrapping insulation won’t work. We are anxious to eradicate the noise completely as the problem has become embarrassing, particularly when we are entertaining guests.

I would greatly appreciate any information regarding affordable solutions that could solve this problem.

A All houses contain pipework to include hot and cold water supplies to the various appliances together with waste pipes which take the excess water/waste away from the appliances. They also contain pipework associated with the central heating installation. Accordingly, by being in a house one would be fairly close to a pipe. Most people would not even be aware that the pipework is present, as in most cases they do not present any noticeable problem.

However, if the pipework has been poorly routed with sharp bends or if it is in contact with certain materials, then you can have problems such as what you are describing.

Unfortunately, there is no quick-fix solution to this, and in most cases you will have to expose and either reroute or insulate the pipe in question. If it is going to be too disruptive to expose the relevant pipes, then the option of disconnecting and blanking these off should be considered and having new pipework installed in a more suitable location.

I also note you specifically refer to the noise being an issue with the hot water installation. This may suggest you are overheating the water which in turn is giving rise to expansion of the pipework, and causing the pipework to vibrate against over materials.

If this is the case, then it may be possible to reduce the problem to some extent by having thermostatic control valves fitted to prevent the water from over-heating, and this may be worthwhile pursuing with the assistance of a plumber.

All of the above assumes the problem you are experiencing is as a result of pipework within your own house. I note you say your house is a semi-detached house, and if the problem is emanating from the pipework in the neighbouring house, then you have a far bigger problem in that you have no direct control over the problem and you would be entirely dependant on your neighbour taking care of the situation. If the relevant pipework is within your own house, then with a little bit of work to include tracing, exposing and either insulating or rerouting the pipework, it should be possible to eradicate the problem and to reduce the noise to an acceptable level.

Val O’Brien sits on the Building Surveying Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland www.scsi.ie

Q I own an apartment in a large block. I pay an annual fee and have never missed a payment. Many of the other owners in this development are in the same position. However, it has come to our attention that some owners have not been paying management fees and the management company has run up a considerable debt through not pursuing payments from these people. There are a number of repairs/refurbishments which need to be done to the building and some are quite urgent. We want to get rid of our current management company and hire a new one. How do we start this process? Is there a way to recoup money from non-paying owners?

A The owners' management company (OMC) is a collective of members/property owners in the development. The managing agent is a commercial operation that facilitates the administration of the OMC and is a licensed property service provider regulated by the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA).

The managing agent receives instructions from the board of directors of the OMC. The OMC is responsible for having a structure in place with its members so they are informed of the procedures for non-payment of service charges. The binding lease agreement sets out the relationship between the OMC and its members. If the common areas are transferred and the counterpart leases clearly identify the service charge due, the management agent will usually seek tenders on the open market for debt collection services on behalf of the OMC if they are not paid.

It is important to clarify that the recovery of a service charge debt is to be treated as a contract debt in a relevant court as prescribed by Section 22 of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011. It is therefore a matter for legally qualified practitioners to intervene in the recovery of service charge debts. A management agent would traditionally send out a reminder and perhaps a follow-up call only on behalf of the OMC.

The best way to source a reputable management agent is to ask for recommendations from existing property owners. Ensure the agent is licensed by referring to the PSRA website and reviewing its register of property service providers. Be cautious of agents seeking to heavily reduce your service charges. If a service charge is discounted beyond what is necessary, the consequences will be that multiples of what was originally required will need to be paid later. When the underfunded issues arise down the road, the agent will have gotten their fee and will be long gone.

Paul Huberman is a member of the property and facilities management professional group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland scsi.ie