SPEEDHOME applauded the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) for embracing insurance practice to safeguard landlords’ interests but it also hopes that the agency will change its perspective on seeing tech companies as illegal brokers.
“While I welcome this news as a big advancement for market maturity, I vehemently disagree with MIEA CEO and past president K Soma Sundram’s statement on tech companies trying to bypass the law,” said Speedhome CEO Wong Whei Meng in a statement on Thursday (Sept 2).
“K Soma Sundram is viewing the property industry from a very narrow lens that only real estate practitioners are allowed to serve the public.
“It has undermined the hard work and innovation of tech companies who have created new solutions and value for the market.”
According to Wong, when it comes to landlord insurance specifically, Speedhome has created far superior protection compared to the traditional deposit model.
For an insurance company to underwrite and mitigate the risk associated with tardy tenants, an insurance agent needs to properly assess the tenant’s profile.
For that to work, a new process was introduced to adhere to more stringent know your customer (KYC) requirements like checking payslip, bank statement and credit checking, which is unheard of in the traditional deposit market, he added.
“I’m deeply disappointed that MIEA did not take a more progressive view to include more aspiring players, be it tech or non-tech, to build a more mature market.
“Real Estate practitioners are entitled to a commission for a property rental transaction as permitted by the law; Speedhome on the other hand is a free-to-use platform with the option to purchase insurance.
“From a business revenue point of view, an insurance agency is at a disadvantage. Yet, it did not deter us from serving the market because we passionately believe we are providing value to the market through a different lens,” he explained.
While Speedhome does deduct payments for the insurance purchased by landlords from their first month’s rental, Wong insisted that it is factually incorrect to say that this practice is overcharging the landlords.
Reiterating Speedhome’s goal to see the real estate market grow, Wong noted that more rooms should be given to tech companies and other players to further accelerate the development of the industry to meet the ever-changing demand from the market.
“I urge MIEA to double down effort in combating the players that are truly contravening the law instead of turning down tech companies that are trying to provide innovative solutions towards the market long-existing problems and ever-changing demand,” he concluded. – Sept 2, 2021
