Hong Kong Federation of Insurers chief Selina Lau said if the government takes ownership of Wang Fuk Court through its proposed buyout scheme, it could obtain the right to claim the fire insurance payout on the fire ravaged estate, with the compensation capped at HK$ 2 billion.

Her comment came after the government announced on Saturday that it would buy all the flats in the seven Wang Fuk Court blocks engulfed by the fire and owners could either take the cash or swap their unit for one at another subsidised estate.

Speaking on a radio programme on Sunday, Lau also noted that more than 800 households have purchased home insurance, which covers furniture, appliances and luxuries at home.

Since residents might not easily present their receipts, she said insurance companies would make special arrangements, compensating up to the maximum coverage amount of their policies.

Addressing residents' concerns regarding whether they have to give their home insurance back to the government, Lau said residents do not need to worry as they are completely different insurance policies.

Speaking on the same programme, Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors president Tony Wan noted that while some Wang Fuk Court residents want to see the estate redeveloped, there are considerable difficulties in doing so.

He said the primary obstacle lies in obtaining 100 percent ownership consent, which is required for any redevelopment to take place.

"As you can imagine, the whole estate involves nearly 2,000 ownership... We cannot estimate how long we can get that kind of consent. On the other hand, we may think that it may be indefinite because some of the owners actually are dead... therefore, on a holistic point of view, we cannot estimate how long it will take to actually redevelop the whole estate," he said.



Edited by Priscilla Ng