NRMA Insurance has distanced itself from a media report that it may sue over damage attributed to high-fronted roof guttering.

The popular style of guttering has attracted attention over the past year with concerns that wrongly installed guttering can help stormwater find its way into roof and wall cavities.

An NRMA Insurance spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au any suggestion that the insurer is close to taking legal action against suppliers or manufacturers of high-faced guttering is incorrect.
 
“We do not even have any evidence that high-faced guttering is an issue for our business,” he said. “This is simply not a priority for us.”

But Archicentre NSW Manager Angus Kell has confirmed the architectural advisory service was approached late last year by a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of NRMA Insurance.

He says insurers are potentially exposed in situations where they provide lifetime warranties on gutter replacement.

“My understanding is that most of the underwriters have a mould-exclusion clause,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “The by-product of water in a house is mould.”

“I would have thought it is in these insurers’ own interest to take appropriate action, because if they are providing a lifetime warranty to a product whose faulty installation could generate mould, that’s not a good position to be in.”