Thailand Condo Insurance

[meand]

I just got an unexpected bill for my condo unit. It is all in Thai, but it is supposedly an insurance bill. It seems to give no indication of how many billing cycles it will include. The bill is about 1,000 baht and I have a small studio unit. It has the condo's branding on the bill, kind of like my water bill.

Any input as to the legitimacy of this appreciated. This is the first I heard of it. I have been living here about 7 months. I was initially under the impression the building covers insurance.

Thanks!

Edited July 7, 2013 by meand

[meand]

Forgot to mention the building is new. I moved in right around the time of "completion". Thai version of completion anyway. I moved in as early as they would let me, let's put it that way.

[tolsti]

Your condo will/should have building insurance. It covers the structure and external superfice of the building. This is normally included in the cost of the CAM fee. As an owner of an individual unit you need to make sure that you have contents insurance (to cover you in case of theft) but also a third party insurance that covers you incase, if you live on the 4th floor and your bath overflows, then the repairs to the lower floors are covered.

[meand]

Thanks. So, after discussing this a little bit with some of the Thai staff, it seems this is an insurance bill for the common areas. When asked why this wasn't covered in the fees, the answer was "there was not enough money".

Is this just tough luck for the owners, or is there some form of written obligation the building is not following through on? "We spent too much money" does not seem like a legally legit answer to me.

[Sunderland]

Are you sure it's for insurance? There are generally fees for maintenance, security, lighting in the corridor, cleaning staff that are paid by all condo owners. At my place it costs about 18,000 baht per year. The fees are calculated partly on the size of your room.

[Delight]

Thanks. So, after discussing this a little bit with some of the Thai staff, it seems this is an insurance bill for the common areas. When asked why this wasn't covered in the fees, the answer was "there was not enough money".

Is this just tough luck for the owners, or is there some form of written obligation the building is not following through on? "We spent too much money" does not seem like a legally legit answer to me.

If this is as you state ,basically an increase in CAM without a supporting vote at a general meeting, then this action is in fact illegal.

Suggest that you check the minutes of the last general meeting. These fees cannot be raised at a committee meeting.

[JoePai]

Simply as for a copy of the policy - as an owner it is your right !

[WhizBang]

In my condo I get an insurance bill once a year, usually in November.

No biggie.

[meand]

Thanks. So, after discussing this a little bit with some of the Thai staff, it seems this is an insurance bill for the common areas. When asked why this wasn't covered in the fees, the answer was "there was not enough money".

Is this just tough luck for the owners, or is there some form of written obligation the building is not following through on? "We spent too much money" does not seem like a legally legit answer to me.

If this is as you state ,basically an increase in CAM without a supporting vote at a general meeting, then this action is in fact illegal.

Suggest that you check the minutes of the last general meeting. These fees cannot be raised at a committee meeting.

This is what I am thinking at this point. They are effectively trying to raise our CAM without any approval whatsoever.

I will try to check the minutes. To be honest, I think I will be met with blank stares if I mention any of that though.

[Delight]

Thanks. So, after discussing this a little bit with some of the Thai staff, it seems this is an insurance bill for the common areas. When asked why this wasn't covered in the fees, the answer was "there was not enough money".

Is this just tough luck for the owners, or is there some form of written obligation the building is not following through on? "We spent too much money" does not seem like a legally legit answer to me.

If this is as you state ,basically an increase in CAM without a supporting vote at a general meeting, then this action is in fact illegal.

Suggest that you check the minutes of the last general meeting. These fees cannot be raised at a committee meeting.

This is what I am thinking at this point. They are effectively trying to raise our CAM without any approval whatsoever.

I will try to check the minutes. To be honest, I think I will be met with blank stares if I mention any of that though.

You will only get bank stares if you ask the wrong person.

The JPM has a legal duty to keep the condo on the right legal track.

If you get blank stares,or bullshit, from him/her then I suspect that you need to worry about wider issues.

[meand]

Thanks. So, after discussing this a little bit with some of the Thai staff, it seems this is an insurance bill for the common areas. When asked why this wasn't covered in the fees, the answer was "there was not enough money".

Is this just tough luck for the owners, or is there some form of written obligation the building is not following through on? "We spent too much money" does not seem like a legally legit answer to me.

If this is as you state ,basically an increase in CAM without a supporting vote at a general meeting, then this action is in fact illegal.

Suggest that you check the minutes of the last general meeting. These fees cannot be raised at a committee meeting.

This is what I am thinking at this point. They are effectively trying to raise our CAM without any approval whatsoever.

I will try to check the minutes. To be honest, I think I will be met with blank stares if I mention any of that though.

You will only get bank stares if you ask the wrong person.

The JPM has a legal duty to keep the condo on the right legal track.

If you get blank stares,or bullshit, from him/her then I suspect that you need to worry about wider issues.

I need to worry about wider issues then.

Thanks for all input up to this point. I think at this point I am just not going to pay this bill.

[smutcakes]

Thanks. So, after discussing this a little bit with some of the Thai staff, it seems this is an insurance bill for the common areas. When asked why this wasn't covered in the fees, the answer was "there was not enough money".

Is this just tough luck for the owners, or is there some form of written obligation the building is not following through on? "We spent too much money" does not seem like a legally legit answer to me.

If this is as you state ,basically an increase in CAM without a supporting vote at a general meeting, then this action is in fact illegal.

Suggest that you check the minutes of the last general meeting. These fees cannot be raised at a committee meeting.

Whilst i agree that this should be included in the Common Fee, in practice in is not that uncommon for Committee's to try and extract some expenses from the Common Fee(lift maintenance, insurance etc) and bill them separately due to budget issues. You should actually check your Condo's regulations, as there may be clauses stipulating the Committee has the power to do X & Y under certain circumstances, or the JPM has taken the unilateral decision as they could argue that the building not be able to afford the insurance could amount to putting the building at a safety risk.

I have seen Co-owners at some Condominium's pay for a legal opinion on this type of issue, and never has there been a clear cut answer and it is one of the grey areas of the Condo law.

At the end of the day for the sake of 1K, is it really worth pursuing it further?Much better to find out the facts, lodge your disquiet with the Committee, management and JPM and carry on. Contrary to the horror stories some have, most Committee's do have the best interest of the condominium at heart-and I am sure if they needed to do this without an General Meeting, it possibly was due to necessity. (eg. it is not possible to get 50 or 33% to approve/attend at General Meeting)