UAE Insurance & Reinsurance Market
A Brief Overview of UAE’s Insurance & Reinsurance Markets
The insurance market in the United Arab Emirates is the second biggest in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The insurance industry in the United Arab Emirates comprises national insurance firms, international insurance companies (operated through insurance agents or branches), and Takaful insurance businesses.
An insurance company’s paid-up capital needs to be at least AED 100 million. For property and liability insurance, a bank deposit of AED 6 million is needed; for personal insurance and funds-building insurance, a deposit of AED 4 million is needed.
The insurance industry is supervised and regulated by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE), which was established by Decretal Federal Law No. 25 of 2020, which merged the insurance authority.
UAE Insurance company regulators and their licensing
Insurance broker
An insurance broker acts as a middleman in the insurance transaction between an insurance company and a policyholder. A minimum of 51% ownership by UAE residents, paid-up capital of AED 3 million, and a bank guarantee of AED 3 million for the head office and AED 1 million for branches are the requirements for an insurance brokerage license.
Insurance agent
An organization or individual that conducts insurance business on behalf of an insurance company is known as an insurance agent. Licensing requirements for insurance agents: 1) entirely owned by citizens of the United Arab Emirates; 2) paid-up capital of at least AED 500,000
Third Party Administrator(TPA)
An insurance firm will contract with a Third Party Administrator (TPA) to handle operational services including processing claims and managing policy benefits. Its licensing requires that company be owned by at least 51% UAE nationals, have paid up capital of AED 5 million, and have an AED 1 million bank guarantee.
Surveyors and Loss adjusters
The organizations and people in charge of identifying and evaluating damages that happened in the insurance subject matter are surveyors and loss adjusters. Its license requires that it be owned by at least 51% UAE nationals, have paid up capital of AED 1 million, and have an insurance coverage of AED 1 million that protects against civil responsibility resulting from the practice of its profession.
Insurance consultants
Insurance consultants are businesses and people who research their clients’ insurance needs, offer guidance on suitable insurance coverage, help with the paperwork associated with obtaining insurance, and get paid by their clients for their services. The license requirements are as follows: 1) ownership by at least 51% UAE nationals; 2) an insurance policy of AED 3 million, with the condition that the total liability cannot exceed AED 30,ooo.
Actuary
An actuary is a business or someone who calculates the worth of insurance contracts, as well as the related paperwork and accounting. 1) Paid-up capital of AED 100,000 in the UAE mainland, and 2) Paid-up capital of AED 250,000 in the free-zone or for a foreign company, are the requirements for its licensing.
Regulations for Insurance
• Minimum capital requirements
• Insurance actuaries
• Insurance consultants
• Supervision fees
• Code of ethics and conduct
• Takaful insurance
•The topics covered include loss adjusters and surveyors
• The business of insurance agents
• Health insurance license (third party administrator, or TPA)
•Insurance brokerage
•Motor
•Financial rules
•Points of sale
• Reinsurance and electronic insurance.
• Committees for insurance disputes
• Bank assurance
• Sanctions
• Sandbox
• Life insurance
• Insurance policy language
• Producers of insurance
• Paying taxes
• FATCA
• Standard reporting guidelines
• Takaful and financial restrictions.