Some relief for owner without insurance

Q: My unit was recently damaged by a leak from a washing machine in the unit above. I contacted management and was told to call my insurer but I do not have insurance. What can I do?

A: The condominium corporation's insurance covers both the common elements and the units, but not your personal property or unit improvements.

There may be a standard unit bylaw or schedule which will establish what constitutes an improvement.

The cost of repairing the insured components of your unit up to the amount of the deductible under the corporation's policy must be paid by the corporation.

The cost above the deductible should be paid by the insurer unless the board decides that the corporation will pay it rather than making an insurance claim.

You will be responsible for costs relating to damage to your personal property or to unit improvements subject to any claim you might have against the occupant of the unit above if the leak resulted from that person's negligence.

Q: My mother and I are co-owners of a condo unit that she occupies. I have not lived in the condo for many years but left my bike in the bicycle storage area of the underground garage.

Some months ago, management posted a notice in the elevators advising residents to identify their bicycles because abandoned bikes in the overcrowded storage area would be thrown away.

My mother did not know my bike was there and although she saw the notice, she did not advise me. When I discovered that my bike was gone, I requested $300 from the corporation, which was less than the bike's value. I provided receipts for repairs to my bike to establish that it wasn't abandoned, but my request for payment was denied.

I believe that the notice was insufficient and that they should have addressed a letter to me at the unit address and my mother would have forwarded it to me.

Many owners in the building are away for many months in the winter and would not be informed by the posting of a notice in the elevators.

I don't think that it is worth my time to go to Small Claims Court, but I would appreciate your opinion.

A: The Condominium Act sets out the methods of giving any notice that is required to be given to owners. While the notice of the impending bike removal may not be a notice required to be given to owners under the act, it would have been advisable for the corporation, in order to ensure that everyone was warned, to use one of the specified methods.

Those are personal delivery, prepaid mail, fax or electronic transmission to an owner who agrees to such delivery or delivery to the owner's unit or mail box if the owner's address for service in the corporation's records is the unit.

It appears from your letter that your name was in the corporation's records as one of the unit owners but not your actual address. Your mother, being unaware of the presence of the bike, may not have informed you if a notice was received at the unit addressed to both of you. A court, however, may conclude that despite your mother's awareness of the posted notice the removal of the bike occurred without adequate notice to you.

Send questions to gerryhyman @bellnet.ca or fax to his attention at 416-925-8492. Letter volume prevents individual replies.

Lawyer Gerry Hyman is an expert in condominium law and appears in Condos on Saturdays.