Domestic Building Warranty Insurance – Are You Covered?
In Victoria, a Domestic building insurance (DBI) provides cover to homeowners for incomplete or defective building work. As a homeowner, you are protected from any faulty building work by insurance held by your builder.
A registered domestic builder is required to carry DBI for all building contracts worth more than $16,000 (including labour and material costs) in value. DBI will cover costs up to $300,000 to fix structural defects for six years, non-structural defects for two years and you can claim up to 20% of the contract sum for any additional costs to complete.
A claim against this insurance is historically triggered as a result of three main insurable events being where:
a builder dies;
disappears or;
becomes insolvent
The latter recently can be seen with the collapse of Porter Davis Homes. For more information on the Porter Davis Homes collapse, please see our previous blog post.
The Fourth Insurable Event: failure to comply with Tribunal or Court Order
As of 1 July 2015, a fourth insurable event was added allowing a claim to be made where a builder fails to comply with a Tribunal or Court Order after 28 days where the following conditions are met:
The order must have been made either by VCAT, or a court, including the Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Supreme Court of Victoria;
The order must be a Final Order;
The builder must have failed to comply with the Order; and
All appeal periods must have expired.
This fourth insurable event has allowed consumers greater ability to access their insurance and be protected for a builder’s non-compliance, especially at what is often the conclusion of Court or Tribunal proceedings.
Our Services
Our team at Oldham Construction Lawyers are highly skilled in preparing and advising on insurance claims.
Your building contract matter will be handled by our Directors, Daniel Oldham and his dedicated team, who will strive to resolve any issues in the most cost effective and efficient manner.
To understand what you’re entitled to claim, and for assistance submitting a comprehensive and successful claim, please contact our office on (03) 9640 0002, or via email info@oclawyers.com.au