This article discusses the compulsory insurance requirements for strata plans in NSW, specifically for schemes with a shared private road.
Question: What types of insurance are required each year for a strata plan covering five properties on a private road?
Our strata scheme has five properties that share a private road under the strata plan. What insurance must be arranged each year to ensure the strata plan is adequately covered?
Answer: The compulsory insurances each year are building insurance (where structures exist) and public liability insurance.
In New South Wales, the insurance obligations for a strata plan are set out in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
Under section 160, the owners corporation is required to insure the building, which includes any common property structures such as gates, fences, lighting or retaining walls, under a building damage policy. In addition, section 164 requires the owners corporation to take out public liability insurance over the common property, with minimum cover of $10 million for each event (though in practice insurers generally provide $20 million as standard).
For a strata plan where the common property is a private road, the compulsory insurances each year are building insurance (where structures exist) and public liability insurance.
Tyrone Shandiman Strata Insurance Solutions E: tshandiman@iaa.net.au P: 1300 554 165
This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be personal advice on any particular matter. Shandit Pty Ltd T/as Strata Insurance Solutions strongly suggests that no person should act specifically on the basis of the information in this document, but should obtain appropriate professional advice based on their own personal circumstances. Shandit Pty Ltd T/As Strata Insurance Solutions is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 404246) of Insurance Advisenent Australia AFSL No 240549, ABN 15 003 886 687.
This post appears in the November 2025 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
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