Insurance in Dubai: What the Law Requires, and What It Costs

Three types of insurance in Dubai can be compulsory: health insurance if your residence visa was issued in Dubai, job loss (ILOE) insurance for private-sector and federal government employees, and third-party motor cover if you own a car. Everything else is a judgement call, and the judgement is easier once you know what each one actually costs. This is the guide we send people who have just landed and been handed a stack of paperwork.

What the law actually requires

Dubai runs a mandatory health insurance scheme under Law No. 11 of 2013. If you hold a residence visa issued in the emirate, you must be covered, and the visa cannot be issued or renewed without a valid policy. There is a fine too, and it falls on the employer or the sponsor (you, for any family member you sponsor), not on the insured employee: AED 500 for each month someone is left uninsured. The DHA said in 2017 that this applies per person and is deducted when the visa is renewed.

The second obligation is job loss (ILOE) insurance. It has been compulsory since 1 January 2023 for private-sector and federal government employees. The exempt groups are investors who own the company they work at, domestic helpers, temporary-contract workers, under-18s and pensioned retirees who take a new job. You pay it yourself: AED 5 a month plus VAT if your basic salary is AED 16,000 or less, and AED 10 a month plus VAT above that. Not subscribing brings a fine of AED 400. Our ILOE guide covers claims and the finer rules.

Free zone staff have had conflicting answers. An EY alert in May 2023 said free zone workers outside the DIFC should enrol. The DIFC and ADGM later said their employees are not required to join, and in October 2023 the ministry called the scheme optional for free zone employees. That is the latest official word we found, so check with your free zone authority.

The third obligation only applies if you own a car. Third-party liability is compulsory across all seven emirates under the federal traffic law, and a vehicle cannot be registered, or its registration renewed, without insurance. Driving without it is not a grey area.

Health cover, and who pays

Your employer arranges your health policy and pays the premium. They are not allowed to deduct it from your salary, and if someone tells you otherwise, they are wrong. Check your contract or ask HR if you are unsure.

Where it gets expensive is dependants. If you sponsor a spouse, children or parents, their cover is your responsibility unless your employer chooses to include them. The DHA encourages employers to do so, and its 2015 employer guide says an employer that adds them to its scheme without paying for them may deduct their premium from your pay.

The Essential Benefits Plan

The EBP is the floor. Its table of benefits is the minimum for any health policy issued in Dubai, and employers must provide at least this plan to staff earning AED 4,000 a month or less (gross). It caps claims at AED 150,000 a year, including any co-insurance and deductibles, and the DHA sets its price (index rate) band at AED 550 to 750 per person per year plus VAT. If you see AED 5,000 quoted for this plan, it is wrong: that is roughly six to nine times the DHA’s price band.

Above the EBP, your age and the level of cover drive the price. Policybazaar.ae’s indicative 2026 table for Dubai puts semi-comprehensive plans at AED 1,300 to 6,600 a year, and comprehensive plans, which add global cover, at AED 3,000 to 12,000. For premium plans with top hospital networks and international options, MHG Wealth gives AED 6,000 to 14,000 a year for a single adult aged 25 to 35 and AED 10,000 to 22,000 at 36 to 49. Our cost guide breaks down what moves the number.

Car insurance

Third-party covers damage you cause to other people and their property. It does not repair your own car, even if the crash was your fault. That is the whole distinction, and it is why comprehensive exists.

Both are priced within an official tariff. Third-party for a 4-cylinder private saloon costs AED 750 to 1,300 for a 13-month policy, a 4-cylinder 4×4 costs AED 1,000 to 1,750, and bigger engines pay more.

Comprehensive is priced mainly on the car’s value. The tariff sets a minimum of AED 1,300 for a saloon and AED 2,000 for a 4×4 before no-claims discounts, and a maximum of 5% (saloon) or 7% (4×4) of the car’s value. Policybazaar.ae puts typical premiums at 1.5% to 3% of the value, from about AED 1,350 for a standard saloon. Your age and claims history also move the price.

If you are bringing a no-claims record from another country, ask whether the insurer will honour it. GIG Gulf says not all insurers accept foreign no-claims certificates, but many do, and that it can save you a considerable amount. Separately, the official tariff lets insurers cut the minimum premium by 10%, 15% or 20% after one, two or three claim-free years.

The optional covers worth buying

Home contents, even as a renter

Contents cover for a tenant starts at AED 195 a year for a studio at broker eSanad, and Property Finder says residents typically pay AED 300 to 800 a year for about AED 100,000 of belongings. Water damage from burst pipes and leaks is a common claim in the UAE, according to eSanad, and a landlord’s policy generally covers only the building and the landlord’s own fixtures, not your belongings. Check that your policy includes water damage: eSanad’s price table lists only theft and fire against its cheapest tenant tier.

Life cover

Worth it if anyone depends on your income. Term life is the simple version: you pay a premium, and if you die during the term your family receives a death benefit. There is no investment component and no surrender value, which is why the premiums stay relatively low.

Travel cover

The minimum Dubai health plan covers basic care in Dubai and emergencies anywhere in the UAE. Cover in other countries is at the insurer’s discretion, so check your plan before you fly. A short single trip can be insured for under AED 100. For frequent travellers, Travl.ae advertises annual multi-trip plans issued by AXA from AED 245 and says an annual plan typically works out cheaper if you travel more than twice a year. Allianz’s own Standard annual plan starts at AED 664 per person, for trips of up to 90 days. Details in our travel insurance guide.

Takaful, the Sharia-compliant option

Takaful works on mutual contribution rather than risk transfer. Each participant pays a donation-based contribution (tabarru) into a pooled fund, and the fund pays the claims. Any surplus left at the end of the year is distributed under an approved surplus policy, and only once the Central Bank agrees. The operator is paid a Wakala (agency) fee for managing the fund, and under the Central Bank’s takaful regulation the fund may also grant it 10% of any surplus for sound management.

In Dubai, a takaful health plan must meet the same DHA minimum benefits as any other health policy issued in the emirate, so compare it with conventional plans on the same terms. If Sharia compliance matters to you, brokers such as Policybazaar.ae list takaful plans next to conventional ones for both health and car cover.

How to compare two policies properly

Ask the broker to send you the policy wording, not the brochure. The brochure sells, the wording binds. If they will not send it before you pay, that answers a different question.