UAE: Rules for online insurance platforms to be launched soon
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jan 2019
The UAE Insurance Authority (IA) is finalising its regulatory system that will be launched soon in order to deal with online platforms that market insurance and offer insurance price comparisons.
The Authority has confirmed these websites have not obtained licences from the regulator, reported Al Roeya. However, they will soon be regulated under the new system.
Mr Fareed Lutfi, secretary general of the Emirates Insurance Association said the association has received many inquiries about whether these sites are licensed or permitted to carry out insurance marketing in the local market.
He stressed the importance of the IA issuing a decision to regulate the operations of these sites, especially with their increasing share of the local insurance market. Most insurers, if not all, deal with these sites, which contribute to increasing the sale of their products.
Dr Hazem Al Madi, partner and managing director of Cogent Insurance Brokers said the unregulated situation harms the broking sector. The online insurance marketing platforms currently sell products to customers without any responsibility towards the customer as they are not subject to any mechanism of control or accountability, he said. M