Investigative Journalism and Learning Hub - No response from BCS Strata Management Ron Sinclair About Insurance Claims for SP52948 Lot 3 for One Year and Five Months on 9 November 2013

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From: SP52948 owner
To: Ron Sinclair BCS Strata Management
CC: Paul Banoob Pica Group, Peter Bone BCS Strata Management, Bruce Copland, John Ward, Stan Pogorelsky, Maureen McDonald, Moses Levitt, Steve Luxmoore, Jeffery Wang, Raphael Hirschhorn
Subject: SUMMARY: No response from Ron Sinclair about insurance for Lot 3 for one year and five months
Date: 9/11/13, 8:34 pm

Hello Ron,

It is very interesting what passage of time and persistence can uncover.

On 15 May 2012 you promised to contact me about missing public liability insurance for owner of Lot 3 (as per Special By-Law that was fraudulently approved by Mr. John Fry in 2003 - the adjourned paper EGM claimed to have 74 proxy votes, which was impossible because the first meeting failed due to lack of quorum, plus the owner completed the work before asking for approval!).

Instead of ensuring that owner of Lot 3 had proper insurance and enforce the Special By-Law, which is one of major duties of the strata agency, you secretly initiated insurance claims for "defense of Lot 3" with CHU on 28 August 2012, in spite of high risk, as documented in correspondence between AJG and CHU.

Your actions have grave consequences.

a) Gallagher Australia (insurance broker) failed to seek any other quotes except from CHU Insurance, which our complex used for several years beforehand.

In the end, the total invoice paid to Gallagher Australia on 21 September 2012 amounted to $84,414.77 (GST inclusive), which was staggering 74.38% higher than in previous year - September 2011.

Bruce Copland, in email to Raine & Horne Strata Sydney and Mr. John Ward on 20 September 2010 (other members of the EC were excluded from it), showed clear unhappiness with the insurance increases and the whole process to get the quotes.

Sadly, that information was hidden from owners in the agenda for the AGM 2012, and EC conveniently insisted on blaming me for the "increases".

Direct loss to owners corporation due to lack of additional quotes was at least $19,254.15 Reasonable increase in FY 2012/2013 should have been between 12-20% (the Minutes of the EC meeting held on 13 June 2012 - Item 10  confirmed it).

In addition, lack of additional quotes was in direct non-compliance with Strata Schemes Management Act 1996, Section 80B, and Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2010, Regulation 14.


b) As the copy of the email correspondence in the attachments shows, Raine & Horne Strata Sydney left it to only one day before the renewal to sort out the best option.

By that time, due to two main reasons:

* one Insurer declined to quote (Strata Unit Underwriters),

* CHU Insurance was worried our constant water ingress   issues that were prevalent since 2007.


c) Strata Unit Underwriters' reason not to quote was due to pending legal defense claim. These claims are very secretive but the evidence is coming up.


d) Another important issue (as seen in the email by Mr. Ron Sinclair from Raine & Horne Strata Sydney on 10 August 2012):

EC member was some kind of client of Gallagher Australia and that was why Raine & Horne Strata Sydney dealt with them (under pressure, not because the strata agency wanted to use them).


e) Strata Manager Mr. Peter Bone, in email on 30 January 2013 confirmed that Raine & Horne Strata Sydney did not use this insurance broker in any other complex, except ours, due to "orders by the EC" (in reality, orders by one EC member alone).


f) In spite of several-million-dollar increase in our property value this year, and all the ongoing issues with water ingress and "legal cases", the insurance expenses paid to the broker decreased by almost 10% in September 2013.


g) In addition, (also hidden in the agenda for the AGM 2013), the total insurance claims for legal expenses for Solicitor Mr. Adrian Mueller in FY 2013 are $24,919.31.

Reason CTTT Defence Lot 3
Claim Number NH201212589-01
Incident Date 12/06/2012
Payment Date 03/09/2012
Amount $367.64

Reason CTTT Defence Lot 3
Claim Number NH201212589-02
Incident Date 12/06/2012
Payment Date 07/12/2012
Amount $12,714.65

Reason CTTT Defence Lot 3
Claim Number NH201212589-03
Incident Date 12/06/2012
Payment Date 29/04/2013
Amount $1,320.00

Reason CTTT Defence Lot 3
Claim Number NH201212589-04
Incident Date 12/06/2012
Payment Date 29/04/2013
Amount $10,517.02

The Cash Book for FY 2012/2013 even hides these expenses in various accounting codes.


h) Partial copies from two insurers show that owner of Lot 3 (published only several months ago) has/had two public liability insurances, each in amount of $20,000.000.00, but there is an interesting catch:

  The GIO insurance policy was issued on 18 October 2012   (one day after the AGM 2012 and the CTTT Hearing) and   "backdated" to 13 September 2012

  The APIA insurance policy was issued for period starting   16 November 2012 (one month after the AGM 2012 and   the CTTT Hearing)

The documents for all years before the AGM 2012 are missing, which means that the Strata Manager FAILED to uphold the By-Laws of SP52948 in this regard (and in many others). As part of SSMA 1996 Section 108, I have, for the final time, requested proofs that owner of Lot 3 had public liability insurance for every year since 2003. It will be very unpleasant for parties involved if such evidence cannot be provided.


i) Since CTTT cases SCS 12.32675 and 12/50460 did not really deal with Lot 3 much (other issues were more critical), it will be interesting for Raine & Horne Strata Sydney and the Executive Committee to prove how, and in which way, insurance claims in amount of $24,919.31 relate to "defense of Lot 3".


j) The third insurance payment was on 7 December 2012, and on 10 December 2012, Single EC member (without EC meeting) alone approved the costs recovery through CTTT, but failed to notify them (and me) that full amount was already recovered through fraudulent claim with CHU.


k) Owners corporation, to this day, is not given full and precise figures of claims and legal costs.


Finally, just to be precise and direct: you failed to act in accordance with law, failed to act with duty of care, failed to act responsibly, and wasted money that is NOT YOURS TO WASTE!


On Tue, 2012-05-15 at 13:07 +1000, Ron Sinclair wrote:

Attached please find a copy of the current cover of the strata plan. The policy is with QBE via the broker Gallagher.

With regard to the insurance required for unit 3 exclusive use I have attached a copy of the minutes of the meeting.

We do not have any correspondence other than advice to the owner of lot 3 with a copy of the meeting minutes.

I have written to the owner of unit 3 requesting a copy of their insurance cover. I will advise upon receipt of same.

Regards

Ron Sinclair

Raine & Horne Strata-Sydney

Level 1, Building D, 240 Beecroft Road Epping NSW 2121

-----Original Message-----

From: EPPI-P20 scan@bcssm.com.au

Sent: Tuesday, 15 May 2012 12:59 PM

To: Ron Sinclair

Subject: Scan Data from EPPI-P20

Number of Images: 2

Attachment File Type: PDF

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