In January 2020 I had damage in my dining room from water ingress which was partially fixed by the Strata. Part of the damage was to the timber floorboard which the building insurance is required to pay, has not been fixed yet. The Strata submitted a claim to the building insurance which was approved by the insurance on July 21th and consequently provided the Strata with the claim money more than three weeks ago. Since May 26th the Strata has not answered any of my emails that related to this matter and refuses to submit a work order to complete the job to the builder that undertakes this job. We live in a building of six townhouses which all the unit’s owners are in the strata committee. When something needs to be fixed this required approval of the Strata committee first. Sometimes the Strata manager fixes a problem without asking approval from the committee. This happens when the claim is coming from her favourite owner. – ARIEL, NSW

Q: 1. In January 2020 I had damage in my dining room from water ingress which was partially fixed by the Strata. Part of the damage was to the timber floorboard which the building insurance is required to pay, has not been fixed yet. The Strata submitted a claim to the building insurance which was approved by the insurance on July 21th and consequently provided the Strata with the claim money more than three weeks ago. Since May 26th the Strata has not answered any of my emails that related to this matter and refuses to submit a work order to complete the job to the builder that undertakes this job.

2. We live in a building of six townhouses which all the unit’s owners are in the strata committee. When something needs to be fixed this required approval of the Strata committee first. Sometimes the Strata manager fixes a problem without asking approval from the committee. This happens when the claim is coming from her favourite owner.

I have sent an email to the Strata owners regarding these matters but so far, I didn’t get any response. What should I do if I don’t get any response? What is the best way to get legal advice?

A: If you have tried all options to reach your strata manager and they are still not responding to your enquiries, you may want to consider getting in touch with the branch manager or a team leader to escalate the matter.

You may also wish to contact your contents insurer and see if they can assist.

If you are still unable to get a proper response/the help you require that is expected of the strata manager you may wish to apply for mediation through NCAT at https://www.ncat.nsw.gov.au/

You can also use the help of our experienced and professional legal team, specialising in strata. You can book a free consultation by visiting https://kempspetersonslegal.com.au/bylaws/ where our team can help you further with general strata advice and dispute services.