While planning a holiday in the United Arab Emirates, we typically imagine an oriental tale with lots of entertainment and upbeat emotions in abundance. Amidst all this joyousness, we often forget about the unexpected events and possible mishaps that might happen in the course of traveling or even simply during our stay in the Emirates. However, as we all know, it’s better to be safe than sorry! In the United Arab Emirates, the Insurance Authority regulates and administers the insurance sector according to the Federal Laws. There are a host of different companies in the United Arab Emirates that provide insurance (Takaful) services.
But, don’t worry! You can fully enjoy your trip and leave these concerns up to us. In this article, we’d be telling you about the numerous types of insurances available in the Emirates and would also be telling you about the numerous insurance providers from where you can get these insurance covers for yourself and your family if need be.
- Health insurance
Only Emiratis are eligible to get free healthcare in the United Arab Emirates, whereas, for expats and visitors, health insurance is very important and greatly benefits visitors should a medical emergency arise. The Governmental policy of the United Arab Emirates, clearly states that anyone who plans to enter the Emirates whether as a resident or a tourist or on a multi-visa, will have to secure a health insurance cover. Health insurance is usually between the employer and the employees and the extent of coverage depends on the employee’s salary, designation, and other such factors.
- Property insurance
Property insurance in the United Arab Emirates subsumes three categories under it. These are Protection for personal belongings, protection for your property’s structure, and protection for your contents.
- Protection for your personal belongings
Under this sub-category, personal items carried frequently by an individual are covered. This coverage would be given when these frequently carried items are being carried outside of their property. These ‘items would include the following:
- Electronics, like laptops and phones.
- Accessories, like clothes, watches, and jewelry.
So, if you’re someone who finds themselves frequently worrying about their personal belongings, especially the expensive ones, it is a great option because it allows the individual to replace the damaged, lost, or stolen item.
- Protection for your property’s structure
Property insurance with regards to your property structure would involve the typical brick and mortar setup and this type of insurance essentially protect the homeowner in the event of accidental damages, water damages such as leaks, protection against fires, and natural calamities like earthquakes, etc. this structural insurance can also be extended to swimming pool or garage, provided it is within your property’s premises.
- Protection for contents
This type of protection extends to the insurance cover that you’d be taking for your household items, against happenings such as theft, accidental damage, protection from water leaks, fires, and natural calamities, provided these items were inside your property at the time of the incident taking place. ‘Contents’ would include things such as furniture, electronics, interior decorations, and even kitchen appliances. However, note that some of these items would fall under the ‘protection for personal belongings’ category and thus, would be insured thereunder.
- Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance essentially protects you and your business from any claims by your clients and third parties and gives protection against such events. This would include cases wherein a third party is a person injured or where their property is damaged while they were on your premises or where the claim resulted from any of your business activities. Public liability insurance is typically used by businesses involved in:
- Regular visits or interactions with your clients, guests, or the general public. For instance, a restaurant or a venue offering adrenaline activities, or,
- Carrying out business activities on a customer’s premises, or
- Owning/leasing business premises.
- Travel insurance
Travel insurance usually covers things like baggage loss, health-related emergencies, repatriation, death, and other unexpected events. Such travel insurance can be purchased from an insurance company in the United Arab Emirates itself. Certain consulates, for instance, the Italian consulate in Dubai offers travel insurance with the travel visa application. No one wants such events to occur, but at the same time what is also true is that we cannot prevent any event from occurring if we do not know if it’s going to take place! So, a simple solution to one of your worries would be to take travel insurance so that all you have to take care of would be your or your loved one’s health and not the finances and expenditure.
- Car insurance
Car insurance is a legal necessity in the United Arab Emirates. Insurance provides give two options when it comes to opting for car insurance. These are comprehensive insurance and third-party insurance. Comprehensive car insurance will provide a cover to both you and anyone who might have incurred damage resulting from an accident where you were at fault. This may also sometimes include the use of a hired car while yours is being repaired. On the other hand, third-party insurance is a minimum requirement in the Emirates. It is also a more affordable option as compared to a comprehensive insurance cover. This type of insurance covers only the damage caused to the other person, i.e, the third party.
- Life Insurance
There are three main types of life insurance in the United Arab Emirates. These are:
- Level Term: This type of insurance pays a lump sum only if the individual passes away during the term of the payments. Premium paid in this type is generally not as expensive as that of Whole of Life Term insurance policies.
- Whole of Life Term: With such policies, the amount is paid in a lump sum whenever the policyholder dies and the premium is normally paid up to the age of 95 years. These policies might end up being slightly expensive.
- Decreasing Term: These policies pay out a lump sum amount only if the holder passes away during the term of the payments and the premium is paid for a fixed term in such policies. Such policies are usually cheaper than the others.
- Business insurance
A business insurance cover secures your company from potential accidents and harmful situations that can either interfere with your company’s working or result in a loss, or even both. When you work so hard to build your business, why leave it at risk, especially the kind you can cover? Therefore, it is always better to get business insurance cover for your business. In Dubai, it is mandatory for you to get some of the corporate insurance policies, while some others are optional.
At this juncture, we hope that you’ve got a better and clearer picture of the various types of insurance available in the United Arab Emirates. Now, we move on to the numerous companies that offer to give insurance covers to expats, visitors, etc. many of these companies provide Islamic insurance, aka takaful. Out of all of these insurance providers, we have provided a list of some notable insurance companies that are registered with the Insurance Authority of the United Arab Emirates, below:
- Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company;
- Ali Omer Golam Morshed;
- FMC Network UAE MC LLC;
- Emirates Insurance Company (PSC);
- ACE Insurance Brokers L.L.C;
- Nas Administration Services LLC;
- Maxcare MiddleEast LLC;
- Al Ain Ahlia Insurance Company;
- Penta Care Medical LLC;
- Aon Middle East CO L.L.C;
- Friends Provident International Limited;
- Chedid Europe Reinsurance Brokrage Limited;
- Integra Technical Services Middle East Limited;
- National Life and General Insurance Company SAOG;
- CHUBB Tempest Life ReInsurance Ltd;
- Jordan Insurance Co. Ltd;
- Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd;
- State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan Foreign Company Branch; and
- Zurich International Life Limited.
All of the insurance providers above are not listed in any particular order. So, the next time you’re planning to take a trip to the Emirates, make sure you have an insurance cover so that you don’t have any worries throughout your trip!
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