KLANG: Property owners in Bukit Antara­bangsa who suffered losses in the recent landslide will only be compensated if their insurance policies included the appropriate cover.

General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) chairman Cliff Lee said: “It’s just like buying a policy for a car. First you purchase a basic policy and then add on clauses for coverage against mishaps such as floods.

“Property owners would have to add on to the basic home protection insurance policy if they want coverage against landslides.”

Lee said that when a person buys a home under a mortgage loan, the bank would get the insurance policy from their panel of companies.

The panel will advise the banks on the appropriate type of insurance cover based on the location of the properties.

Property purchasers have the option to incorporate, or not to, a clause to protect their properties against landslides.

Great Eastern group sales manager G. Satheesan said the basic policy was usually fire insurance, which provides protection against material damage to properties in the event of a fire.

Damage to properties due to landslides and soil erosion would not be included in such a policy and property owners would have to add the appropriate clause and pay an additional premium, which is nominal, he said.

He said insurance companies had required this clause to be included following the 1993 Highland Tower tragedy.

The PIAM website (http://www.piam.org.my/) listed three varieties of property insurance coverage in Malaysia – Fire Insurance, House Owners Insurance and Householders Insurance.

House Owners Insurance offers protection against natural disasters, or one can purchase Fire Insurance and add the landslide or natural disaster clause.