Ontario drivers have responsibilities when operating a vehicle. In Ontario drivers are required to have vehicle insurance and are responsible to report accidents to the Police or at a Collision Reporting Centre when the damage is over $1000. Collisions on private property such as the condominium are no different. The police need to be notified if there are injures or damages in excess of $1000 or damages to private property, such as the garage door. It’s not uncommon for vehicle owners to try and avoid calling their insurance companies, as there may be a deductible cost or a rate increase.
Sometimes determining who is at fault is straight forward but sometimes it may not be so black and white. When it comes to insurance we have all heard the terms no-fault or at-fault. We commonly think of these when two vehicles are in an accident. What you may not be familiar with are conditions in the corporation’s declaration preventing or limiting the ability of a unit owner from obtaining compensation from the corporation or its directors. Most declarations contain indemnification clauses or waivers of subrogation. What is subrogation? Subrogation in simplified terms allows insurance companies to recoup accident costs from the at-fault insurer. Several condominium declarations include a “waiver of subrogation”. A waiver of subrogation is essentially an agreement that prevents the insurance company from acting on your behalf to recoup expenses from the at-fault party.
In real life, several door collisions happen when a door is starting to retract and a vehicle enters. As the vehicle enters the door continues on the down cycle hitting the windshield or top of the vehicle. The door starts to go back up after the vehicle crosses the photo eye (invisible beam at the entrance). Most of the time the door is not damaged, but it may not be so good for the vehicle windshield and paint job. In this scenario the vehicle owner could pay out of pocket to repair their vehicle or contact their insurance company. Vehicle owners are to contact their vehicle insurance providers when an accident occurs, however, many times the drivers do not want to make a claim. Instead they often go the management office at the building and request compensation.
Mark Shedden, President of Atrens-Counsel Insurance Brokers assists his clients and Property Managers in navigating the insurance process. When asked about this subject he offered the following information.
“The policy that covers the property that is damaged is called the Primary Policy and must be the first to respond. Damage to the door goes to the Corporation insurer, damage to the car goes to the automobile policy covering the damaged vehicle. “ Mark Shedden
What we Suggest
Our first recommendation is to document the event with an incident report and to obtain any other items which may help identify if the door failed or if it was driver error. You can gather video tapes, garage/fob transmitter reports, security guard reports, and so on. It is also recommended at the time of the accident or when reported that the door be inspected by the door contractor, and a report be prepared. You may also want to attach the last service call report from the door contractor as proof of the last service date. The next step would be to advise the vehicle owner that they may be required to contact their insurance company if there are significant damages to the vehicle or the door. You should then contact your insurance broker to ask for their assistance. The broker will be able to navigate through the events and the next best steps, such as starting a file just in case the driver decides to make a claim. Sometimes corporations have clear video tapes showing the driver at fault and will chargeback any garage door damage costs to the unit owner. The ability and amount the corporation can chargeback will depend upon the corporation declaration and by-laws. Next would be to assess the area to identify if future accidents could be minimized by adding lighting, mirrors, speed bumps, traffic signals, or proximity sensors.
Navigating a claim can be difficult, so it is very important to seek the advice from your property manager and insurance provider. Having managed several properties for over 40 years, Malvern has seen its share of incidents. For this reason Malvern developed a standard reporting form referred to as an incident report, which our Property Managers are trained to complete. These documents have been successfully relied upon to get our clients back on track after damages occur. Maybe in the future someone will invent a door that keeps out the cold, secures the garage, and never breaks down. Until then keep a couple of extra incident reports handy.
Great article! We recall a self-managed corporation that insisted we delete the major repair and replacement cost line item for their garage door from the reserve fund study we were preparing for them since it ” … always gets replaced by an insurance claim …”. After reviewing it in detail with them, and contacting their insurer to get an opinion on the claims history and its adverse effect on the both their premium and deductible, they eventually decided to keep a relatively infrequent but appreciable amount in their study for eventual replacement not due to accidental damage. Keep up the good work Malvern!
Thanks for explaining the process.
I would like to ask your view on an incident in my building. I live in Ontario. Condo management is charging me back for garage door damage that they alleged we caused. The video footage that was presented to us does not show us any damage. At the time we are viewing the footage, the manager advised that she will show us a zoomed in version of the footage where we hit the door. However, they are not willing to do that anymore.
We also provided quote that is 50% of the cost their contractor is charging them but they do not want to use another contractor. We provided this quote in case we are responsible.
At this point, we have not seen the proof and they are charging us back the full amount. What are our options?
Thanks a lot!
Thank you for your inquiry.
It is difficult for us to give you a definitive answer on the situation you are facing as all chargeback scenarios are unique. It seems that the nature of the dispute is that you indicate that you did not damage the garage door. This is more complex than a situation where damage is acknowledged but the reason for the damage needs to be determined.
Your best course of action is to place your concerns, and summary of the events as you understand them, to the Board of Directors in writing for their review and response. Ultimately the Board of Directors should be the party making a final decision regarding any potential chargeback to your common expenses.
Good luck!
I appreciate the feedback.
How can I send a letter directly to the Board and make sure they receive it? I do not want the property manager to take the letter and not show it to the board. All my conversations with the property manager lead me to believe that she is not telling the board the truth. I would like to address the board directly because she might be misinforming them.
I wrote a letter on Tuesday asking the manager to let me talk to the Board of Directors. She wrote back today saying the board does not want to meet with me, made their final decision and I will have to pay interest of 18% if I do not pay the chargeback.
The property manager started working in our building a day before the incident happened. She might be trying to impress the board. I have a strong feeling that is misinforming the board for lots of reason. Here are 2 of them:
1) When I dropped the last letter and asked the property manager for audience with the board, we discussed the incident again. I asked her if she informed the board that I could not see the accident in the video. She said: “I told them that I showed you the video but you do not want to see the accident”. That tells me she is not telling the truth because when we saw the video, it was not clear. She also told me that “you can’t see it but we can because we know what we are looking for.”
2) The board meeting was on Tuesday when I dropped the letter. I stopped by the office on Thursday and asked her if she managed to get us an audience. She said: “when the board let me know, I will let you know.” I received her letter with the decision the day after (today) and the board did not meet again since I last saw her.
I asked the owner of the condo to call her on Monday. I also plan to send a letter to the board if I can find a way to give it to them directly.
Thanks again!
p.s. she always send letters on Friday night or Saturday morning which is really annoying.
Different condominium communities establish communication protocols internally. Some condominiums do have a private feedback email for residents to communicate directly with the Board of Directors. I would encourage you to investigate if your Board has any communication protocols in place that would allow you to approach them directly.
Best of luck to you in achieving resolution to this matter.
Please advise if there is a specific length of time that the property management has to pursue a chargeback to a unit owner. Also, if the incident report indicates that there is no apparent damage, is it possible for the property manager to then make a claim?
Thanks for your question.
Specific circumstances may alter the timing of a charge back however, a good rule of thumb is that the charge back must be collected within 90 days of the date the Corporation incurred the expense by paying the cost to their contractor. If same is not paid by the unit owner within this time frame, the Corporation may not be able to collect same as a common expense unless a lien has been registered on title to the unit.
In Ontario, a condominium may only charge back actual costs incurred to a unit owner. As such, damages would have to have been repaired at a cost in order to assign charges to the unit.
Our car’s roof was hit by a garage malfunction last week w/c cause a huge dent on my moonroof and several cracks on my windshield. i filed a formal complaint letter with MRCM which is our new prop manager but haven’t heard from them since last week. I already have a car repair quotation which is around $7k. I am hoping that this can be paid by MRCM. How would i know if this is covered or not. I left several messages but haven’t heard from the prop mgr. It will be unfair to have it covered with to my car insurance as for sure it would make my rate higher on my next renewal. Is this something covered my the prop management. A neighbour said that the garage door is really damaged. Please advise, don’t know what to do. Thanks
Thank you for your inquiry. We do suggest that you seek input from the insurer of your vehicle. While we realize this is often something drivers wish to avoid, it appears that you have significant repair costs to consider.
We do hope this helps, and best of luck as you work to resolve this issue with your property management firm.
Great article and feedback! How is the at-fault party determined on private property? I don’t think the statutory fault determination rules (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 668: FAULT DETERMINATION RULES) apply to a situation like this?
Also, does anyone know the photoelectric sensor that is supposed to prevent the door from crashing down is a nice to have, or is it required by law – ie a building code or something similar.