ILOE Insurance UAE 2026: Who Pays, Fines, How to Claim

The price of ILOE insurance is the easy part. The costly mistakes happen elsewhere: a fine that holds up your next work permit, or a claim refused after a year of premiums because it went in on day 31. The deadline is written into the scheme’s own policy terms, a six-page document few people open, and the fines come from a ministerial resolution. We read the terms, the law behind them and the official claims guide.

Who has to subscribe, and who is left out

ILOE was created by Federal Decree-Law No. 13 of 2022 and has been compulsory since 1 January 2023 for employees in the private sector and the federal government. It is run by an insurance pool managed by Dubai Insurance. It is also separate from the health cover your employer has to provide in Dubai, which our guide to compulsory insurance explains.

Article 3 of the law leaves five groups out entirely. Outside those five, the open question is employees of free zones, semi-government bodies and local government.

What it costs, and which category you are in

One number decides your category: your basic salary. The only exception is staff paid on commission whose contract sets no basic salary, who choose their own category. The policy terms work from basic salary alone, so housing and transport allowances count for nothing, first when your premium is set and again when a claim is calculated.

A policy runs for one or two years. On new policies, the sources disagree about how you can pay. The policy terms still published on iloe.ae list monthly, quarterly, six-monthly and yearly payments, and The National described the same options in June 2025. But Edenred, whose C3Pay app is one of the listed payment channels, reported in January 2024 that the pool had stopped accepting instalments for new subscriptions, which must now be paid in full. Renewal is clearer: Gulf News reported in February 2025 that the only renewal option is now two years, and The National says renewing subscribers are offered a single two-year payment. iloe.ae still says the full VAT is added to the first instalment or payment, so check the payment options the portal gives you when you subscribe.

That puts a two-year renewal at AED 126 in Category A and AED 252 in Category B, VAT included. Paying on the ILOE website or app costs nothing extra. You can also subscribe or renew through Al Ansari Exchange, Tawjeeh and Tasheel centres, upay and MBME kiosks, the C3Pay and Botim apps, or an SMS to 2120, with a service charge added.

What it pays, worked through

The benefit is 60% of your average basic salary over the six months before the job ended, paid monthly for up to three months per claim and capped by category. Over your whole working life in the UAE, the total is capped at 12 months of benefit, however many claims that takes.

The table shows what the brochures leave out. If your basic salary is still AED 16,000 or less, the Category A ceiling never applies, because 60% of AED 16,000 is AED 9,600. It does apply if you subscribed in Category A and your average basic salary has since passed AED 16,666: the payment then stops at AED 10,000. The policy terms let you ask to pay the higher premium once a raise is in your contract, applied to past and future payments on the same certificate, and The National advises updating your details on the ILOE portal when a new job puts you in the other category. The Category B ceiling starts to bite once your average basic salary passes AED 33,333. And three months is a maximum, not a promise: payments stop as soon as another employer hires you. If you are already looking, here is who is hiring and what they pay.

Once a claim arrives with documents that meet the conditions, the policy terms give the insurer two weeks to transfer the money to the account you choose.

How to claim, step by step

You file the claim yourself, through the ILOE claims portal, the ILOE app or the call centre on 600 599 555. The steps below follow ILOE’s current claims submission guideline, which has separate sections for private sector employees, federal government employees and employees not registered with MoHRE.

1. Make sure your work permit has been cancelled ILOE’s claim brochure advises cancelling it before you submit. In the private sector, the form then shows the cancellation date and reason held on record.
2. Log in with your Emirates ID or UID number and your mobile Use the number you subscribed with, your date of birth and your UAE mobile number in the 5x-xxxxxxx format, then enter the one-time code sent to that number.
3. Open Claim Submission and check your contact details If your email or phone number is out of date, the guideline says to call 600 599 555.
4. Confirm the date and reason your job ended In the private sector the form shows what is on record: if it is wrong, add a remark and upload documents that prove it. Federal government employees, and staff of employers not registered with MoHRE, which is the route free zone employees use, select the reason and last working day themselves and upload their documents.
5. Choose how you want to be paid A bank transfer needs your bank name, IBAN, account number and account holder name, and the guideline warns that the system does not check the IBAN. For an exchange house, you choose the provider, and the form shows the Emirates ID and passport numbers on record: call 600 599 555 if either has changed.
6. Submit, then watch your email Updates go to your registered email address. Questions go to claims@iloe.ae or 600 599 555.

Why claims are turned down

Every condition below comes from the policy terms. Miss one and the claim fails, however long you paid.

The residency condition has a practical edge. In a statement reported by Gulf News in December 2023, the ministry said the right to compensation is forfeited if you cancel your residency and leave the country, or join a new job, during the processing period, and Khaleej Times lists leaving the UAE among the events that stop payments. Filing before you fly out will not keep the payments coming once you have gone, so if you plan to leave, call ILOE on 600 599 555 before you cancel your visa or leave.

The fines, and what they hold up

There are two. AED 400 if you never subscribed, and AED 200 if a premium is more than 90 days overdue, which also cancels your certificate and breaks your cover. The National confirmed both amounts in June 2025.

The enforcement comes from a ministerial resolution, which Khaleej Times set out in September 2023, weeks before the 1 October sign-up deadline. An employee with unpaid ILOE fines will not be issued a new work permit until they are paid, and a fine still unpaid three months after its due date can be deducted from wages through the Wage Protection System, from the end-of-service gratuity or by any other method the ministry accepts.