Months after terrible incident that brought two houses down in suburban Queensland, elder brother comes forward and discloses the torment of living with a slothful family.
“They are not just lazy,” squealed Francis Bacon in an interview, “they’re complete pigs! When they told me they were building houses with straw and sticks I begged them to at least arrange some insurance. ‘Nonsense!’ they told me. Now you look at this mess.”
Forced to take in two younger brothers who were randomly attacked by an undernourished stranger, Mr Francis broadcasted proof of months of forced housework and the brothers’ six-digit renovation bills.
Unexpected catastrophes
Same as Mr Bacon’s brothers, a lot of home-owners consider insurance policies to be a ‘waste of money’ with no imminent requirement. And indeed, the frequency of natural disasters that would require an insurance claim are not as many as they used to be thanks to city planning and engineering, but that is not the only threat to a property.
For investment properties, Landlord Insurance and Building Insurance might include –
- Legal liability cover
- Rental loss
- Rebuilding costs
- Contents cover
- Replacement of locks
- Removal and storage of goods
- More
2022 – in-house cases
Water pipe burst
Overnight, from a Friday to a Saturday, a water pipe in one of our rentals burst on the top floor causing extensive damage to floorboards, carpets, skirting boards and ceiling. Given this represented an emergency, we organised our plumber to attend the property and rectify the issue so that in the following week the insurance company could be actioned.
In a timely manner, quotes were provided and the maintenance jobs approved and actioned under insurance claim.
February floods
With all the rain and rise in water levels around the Brisbane area, some New Farm properties were badly affected by the February ‘22 floods for days unend. While some sat on higher land or were prepared with sandbags, others weren’t that lucky.
One of them in particular – a beautiful 4-bedroom Queenslander with a granny flat downstairs – was so badly impacted by it, the whole downstairs level was taken over by water. With a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom made unusable, plus the backyard and parking space flooded, the tenants were forced to leave the property for weeks until the whole area was drained and dry. When it was safe for their return, the repairs could also start.
The landlords, unfortunately, did not have any insurance policy and weren’t only responsible to pay out of pocket for the necessary repairs to bring the property back to previous condition, but also for their tenants’ accommodation costs for the whole time they were made to move away, and after tenants returned, the landlord also took a cut on rental income given part of the property was under renovations.
In response to the elder’s accusations, the two younger brothers declared that they ‘might not be the tidiest, or the cleanest, or the most hardworking for the matter, but at least thanks to the incident all three had a delicious stew for supper’.
The elder brother’s rejoinder was simply “there was fur in the stew.”
When your investment is caught in a difficult situation such as extensive damage that requires rapid action, it is important to have a knowledgeable team making sure everything runs smoothly. At Odyssey Property Concierge, our highly experienced team works with smaller portfolios per agent, allowing our Property Managers to dedicate more time resolving such problems.
