The Malaysia Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) has introduced its new MIEA Landlord Insurance to protect residential property owners from financial losses incurred by problematic tenants. These include risks such as runaway tenants, rent arrears, as well as potential damages to their assets.

The policy is available to landlords who own residential properties with a monthly rental that exceeds RM700, and is offered at a minimum annual premium of RM280 per unit – equivalent to less than RM24 per month. Upon signing up for the insurance package, policyholders will be compensated if met with the following circumstances:

• Loss of rental income due to tenant runaway
• Legal expenses for Letter of Demand
• Loss or damages due to malicious acts from tenant

On top of those, policyholders can also tap into a number of other additional benefits when they encounter specific losses or damages caused by the tenant, including:

• Cleaning service costs incurred when contents of premises are destroyed or damaged by tenants
• Repairing or replacing doors, locks, access card and keys
• Replacement of structures made of glass materials, including shower doors and windows
• Maintenance services such as plumbing, drainage, air-conditioning, and toilet repair
• Losses due to theft or burglary committed by tenants

MIEA also clarified that this policy will not cover vacation, seasonal or short-term rental units, vacant properties, as well as student rentals (both local and foreign).

To be eligible for this policy, both landlord and tenant are required to meet a number of eligibility criteria, one of which is that they must pass an Anti–Money Laundering, Anti–Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA) screening. In addition, the landlord must possess a valid tenancy agreement with a signed term of more than 12 months. Tenants will also be checked for records of bankruptcy or eviction in the past 5 years, whereas certain tenant groups – like foreign tenants – will need to furnish additional documents.

In rolling out the MIEA Landlord Insurance, the president of MIEA, Chan Ai Cheng believes this product will not only give property agents under the institute an extra edge over others, but also benefit its landlords.

“We want the real estate profession to grow and be at par with other countries. Our motivation of introducing this policy is to protect the public and to provide an environment for agents to be competitive in enhancing their services, which will set them apart from others. This will augur well for the profession and for the Malaysian property market. Both landlords and agents can also sleep better with this additional protection which will step in should untoward losses occur,” Chan said.

For additional context, the MIEA Landlord Insurance was designed by MIEA’s insurance partner, Howden Insurance Brokers. You can find out more about the MIEA Landlord Insurance here.

(Source: The Sun)

• TAGS:
• Insurance
• Landlord Insurance Policy
• Landlords
• Property
• Rental Default
• Residence
• Tenant