Several home builders in Victoria have been failing to take out the necessary insurance before taking deposits, exposing customers to thousands of dollars in potential losses.
has confirmed several examples of builders being fined for insurance breaches and obtained contracts showing a major home builder delayed taking out insurance on two occasions.Credit:At least five builders have been fined by the Victorian Building Authority for serious breaches of insurance requirements and other failures since 2021. One of the builders was also suspended for three months and two were stripped of their registration.
Mike Tarno comforts another homeowner at the steps of the Victorian Parliament on Sunday after the collapse of builder Porter Davis.Richard Williams lost his $40,000 deposit when Porter Davis became insolvent last month despite being led to believe the company had sought the necessary insurance.Williams questioned how the failure to immediately obtain insurance had not been caught by regulators.
“I don’t think Porter Davis would be the only builder that has done that, that has taken deposits without having the proper warranty insurance done. The solution to that would be that all deposits should be held in trusts until the warranty insurance and the building permits are issued,” he said. Meanwhile, distressed families affected by the collapse of Porter Davis protested on the steps of Parliament House, calling on the government to help them get their deposits back.
“It’s just a massive loss of a year and a half of our life. It’s all the shattered dreams that we had. You would think of yourself in this new house, this beautiful place that you could live in, that you worked 20-plus years of your life to be able to get, and then it’s all gone down the drain, literally overnight.”
Opposition spokeswoman for housing Jess Wilson accused government agencies of failing to oversee insurance requirements.In a statement, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority said it had no role in compliance.
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