Selangor looking at insuring private low-cost flats

PETALING JAYA (Nov 19): The Selangor authorities are planning to get an insurance company to provide coverage for private low-cost, high-rise homes, reported The Star today.

Housing and Urban Living Committee chairman Haniza Talha (pictured) told the daily that low-cost flats were often damaged by natural disasters and therefore need such coverage.

“We will look at the various plans to see which has the best coverage with reasonable premiums for buildings and common properties,” Haniza said.

“The owners need immediate financial assistance, especially because it is expensive to repair the damage. Most of them do not have sinking funds and without insurance, it can be difficult,” she said, adding that most joint management bodies and management committees “could not afford extensive insurance schemes because of the costs”.

Haniza also revealed that there are more than 1,300 private flats in Selangor and “most of them would seek state government assistance for repairs despite being privately-owned entities”.

It was also reported by the English daily more than a week ago that a retention wall at low and medium cost Apartment Permai has collapsed.

The repair cost for the wall is RM1.5 million but the apartment management does not have sufficient monies for it while their insurance claims have been rejected owing to the lack of supporting documents.

Haniza also visited the site and said developers should “not use the excuse that the warranty period has expired to evade responsibility when their development project is faced with a wall collapse or landslide”.