Apartment Balcony and Insurance

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Paolo6

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I bought my apartment 15 years ago. My balcony can only be accessed via my living room. I keep plants on it and a small garden storage box for gardening tools. It is a ground floor apartment so I covered it with a privacy screen which I bought in a garden centre. My property deeds do not mention my balcony which is attached to my living room. At the time of purchasing the apartment my solicitor questioned this with the seller’s solicitor. They verbally conveyed to me that it was my responsibility to maintain the balcony.

Only this year the block insurer said it was unsafe to have anything on our balconies including screens around the balcony. The management company charged me an extra €100 because I have a screen around my balcony. I don’t consider this to be something that justifies penalisation.

I would appreciate constructive views on this situation. Is it unduly unsafe to have a screen and minimal garden items on a balcony? Have other apartment complexes this issue and how do they address it?
 
I have lived in an apt and also been a director of the mgt company and never heard of this. The only house rules we had was no washing on view.
 
What do the management company rules state around balconies and what you can or can not place on them?

If the presence of items on balconies could give the block insurers cause to void the policy, then it is the management company's responsibility to do what ever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen. Insurance companies are getting a lot more particular about these developments since some high-profile fires.
 
Would be usual for balconies / parking spaces to remain in the ownership of the OMC and not on the deeds of the apartment.
 
Leo said:
What do the management company rules state around balconies and what you can or can not place on them?

If the presence of items on balconies could give the block insurers cause to void the policy, then it is the management company's responsibility to do what ever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen. Insurance companies are getting a lot more particular about these developments since some high-profile fires.
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I wrote to the insurer and management company a few weeks ago for further information but neither responded to me. If the block insurer voided the policy because of such items on balconies I would question the fairness of it.
 
Paolo6 said:
The management company charged me an extra €100 because I have a screen around my balcony.
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You mean that they added €100 to the normal management fee that you have to pay? How did they characterise/describe the €100 extra? Was it a "fine" of some sort? As mentioned above you should check the management company rules to check what, if anything, they say about such an additional charge and about balconies in general.
 
ClubMan said:
You mean that they added €100 to the normal management fee that you have to pay? How did they characterise/describe the €100 extra? Was it a "fine" of some sort? As mentioned above you should check the management company rules to check what, if anything, they say about such an additional charge and about balconies in general.
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Yes they added an additional €100 to my normal management fee. On my statement it just says charge added for having a balcony screen. The MC rules don't cover such additional fees but they must be trying to change that. I don't consider that reasonable but I'm interested in other opinions.
 
I also live in a ground floor apartment and have a patio which is accessed from my main living room. I am also a resident director of the OMC. Our legal documents state that these patios are part of the common area of the development and therefore I do not have permission to fence off the area for my own personal use. In reality no other resident uses this area but I don't own it personally but have joint ownership as part of the OMC. We don't have any rules about what can be stored in this area except no washing or bbqs. We request that owners keep all common areas tidy and well presented in order to keep the estate looking well.
 
Paolo6 said:
Yes they added an additional €100 to my normal management fee. On my statement it just says charge added for having a balcony screen. The MC rules don't cover such additional fees but they must be trying to change that. I don't consider that reasonable but I'm interested in other opinions.
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I don't see how they can charge extra if the schedule of possible charges aren't set out clearly for members a priori. I would certainly be annoyed too be charged some extra amount out of the blue that was not covered by the management company rules or other relevant documentation.
 
iamaspinner said:
Could it be a fine for breaking house rules?
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That would be fair enough as long as such fines are set out clearly for members to see and understand.
It's not clear if that's the case though.
And even if it was then surely it should be itemised/described clearly as such on the invoice/bill?
 
Paolo6 said:
If the block insurer voided the policy because of such items on balconies I would question the fairness of it.
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The insurer's contract is with the management company, and so it is very unlikely they will correspond with anyone other than the delegated parties.

If you can show the insurers a fire certification for such use of the screen you might have some success arguing. You really need to get clarity from the management company though and get clarity on what is permitted, they are the ones who set the rules for the development.
 
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