UAE: IA instructs insurers to cover cost of temporary housing in fire policies
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Oct 2017
The Insurance Authority (IA) has directed insurers to provide for the cost of substitute housing in fire insurance policies which cover residential property in the event that property owners or their tenants are forced to vacate their homes due to an incident covered by the policy.
The prices of such policies are low at present, averaging about AED600 (US$163) for two-bedroom homes, industry players told Emirates Today.
A senior insurance executive said that demand for fire insurance in the UAE has increased due to recent fires. He added that while temporary housing costs may be covered by fire policies, homeowners or tenants also need to insure the contents of their homes as these have value too. Home contents at present are still largely uninsured.
He said that compared to the compensation received by policyholder, the price of cover for home contents is low, pointing out that insurers have called for more efforts to promote awareness of the importance of these products. M
AED1 = US$0.27