RELATED: Watersun Homes enters administration
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Property owners affected by the collapse of Watersun Homes have been advised to check their domestic building insurance policies, as the administrators work to ensure their homes are completed.
The Melbourne-based homebuilder went into voluntary administration on Tuesday, affecting central Victorian families and businesses.
The company has 300 projects in Victoria, about half of which are in metropolitan Melbourne.
The other half are in regional cities such as Bendigo, Ballarat, and Geelong.
Rodgers Reidy director Mathew Gollant, one of Watersun’s two appointed administrators, said the homes were at varying stages of completion.
“We will be communicating directly with all owners and contracted parties in the next few days,” he said.
Mr Gollant said owners needed to check whether they had been issued a domestic building insurance policy by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority.
Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive officer Gerard Brody said most people, particularly those with building contracts worth more than $16,000, were required to have domestic building insurance as part of their building contract.
That insurance should provide some compensation or a payout when a builder goes into liquidation or administration.
Advice specifically for people affected by Watersun entering administration is available from the VMIA DBI website.
Story continues below screenshot of advice posted on the website
Administrators on Tuesday advised former Watersun employees to lodge any claim with the federal government’s Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme.
The scheme is triggered when a company moves into liquidation and is unable to pay its former employees what they are owed.
“It is too early in the administration process to know the extent to which FEG assistance might or might not be required in this matter,” a Department of Employment spokesperson said.
All of the 90 full time jobs administrators said would be lost as a result of the process are based at the Watersun head office, in Melbourne.
The administrators are dealing with national and Victorian home builders that have expressed an interest in completing the unfinished projects.
They said there had been interest in the purchase of Watersun’s assets and projects.
“We intend to get a resolution as soon as possible,” Mr Gollant said.
He expected a proposal for the completion of unfinished homes would be made to owners in the next few weeks.
“They can also obtain advice from the VMIA,” Mr Gollant said.
Further announcements are expected as the voluntary administration process progresses.
Mr Gollant said the process allowed Watersun’s directors to work with the administrators to put any proposal to the creditors that might result in a better return than liquidation, and would give the company and assets the best chance of any sale or restructure.
The first creditor meeting is at 10am on March 10 at the Chartered Accountants meeting room at 600 Bourke Street, Melbourne.
The date for the second meeting, at which creditors will vote on any proposal or that the company be liquidated, has yet to be confirmed.