As expats we always want to compare costs and benefits; for all products and services we use in UAE and if a cheaper or better alternative is available in India, we consider using it for obvious reasons…
Term Insurance plans are such products, where a lot of comparison happens between plans in UAE and India.
This post aims to highlight the unique features and benefits of term insurance in UAE, helping you choose a suitable plan to protect loss of income due to death, disability and most importantly due to diagnosis of a major critical illness.
Wide and transparent Scope of Critical Illness Cover : Term Insurance Plans in UAE offer a very wide scope of critical illness cover, covering up-to 35 critical illnesses.
Thanks to medical advancements, people are now living longer lives, but not necessarily healthier lives. The following are some of the health statistics pertaining to UAE and GCC;
- The average age of critical illness insurance claimant in UAE is 47 and the youngest age of a critical illness claimant is 20.
- The Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) claims that UAE school children are now 1.8 times more obese than children in the US.
- More than 66 percent of men and 60 percent of women in the UAE are overweight or obese
- Obesity in the UAE is the number one cause of “lower disability-adjusted years,” which is a measure of years lost due to poor health, disability, or early death.
- Heart disease is striking 20 years earlier in the UAE, then other parts of the world
- UAE children have cholesterol levels found in 60-year-old men
- One in five in the UAE is diabetic
- Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD – like diabetes, heart disease, cancers, chronic respiratory illnesses, and more) are responsible for more than 60% of all deaths in GCC countries
Given the adverse health statistics, it is important to have an adequate and comprehensive critical illness cover, protecting your income atleast for 3 to 5 years, in the event of diagnosis of such dreadful disease.
Thankfully Term plans in UAE cover up-to 35 critical illness, and would pay on diagnosis of such critical illness.
The scope, definition and limitations of critical illness cover offered by leading insurance providers in UAE like Zurich international life, Friends Provident, Metlife, Salama and Arab Orient are well defined.
Each company has an exhaustive list of critical illnesses covered with well written benefits definition, scope and limitation, eliminating ambiguities at the time of applying for cover and at the time of claims.
![Critical illness insurance in UAE]()
Critical Illness Cover up to age 74 : Insurance companies like Zurich international life offer critical illness cover up to age 74.
While there are risks of a person developing critical illness at an early age, the chances of getting critically ill become higher as the person becomes older.
Plans in India have a very limited scope of critical illness and they usually cover up to age 60.
Critical illness cover up to $1,250,000
Many insurance providers in UAE offer critical illness cover up to $1,250,000, while providers in India only offer less than $150,000 and for 30 or lesser number of years.
It is recommended to have atleast 3 to 5 years of income as critical illness cover.
Transparent and comprehensive underwriting: Thanks to vast experience in covering critical illness, insurance providers in UAE have developed a transparent and comprehensive underwriting system, enabling them ask the right questions and conduct adequate tests before accepting risk on a term insurance plans.
This comprehensive underwriting activity, eliminates the possibility of delays during claims, hence the providers in UAE have very healthy claims settlement records on critical illness and life insurance claims.
Ease of Claims : Thanks to the vast experience gained by operating in many countries, international insurance providers like Zurich, Friends Provident, Metlife and Salama have developed a robust system of claims processing and settling.
Companies like Zurich, Friends Provident and Salama provide a well developed customer support via their call centre and their offices across UAE.
Internationally Portable and Tax efficient plans : Term Insurance plans in UAE are portable internationally covering the insured during their travel and during change in residency in future for all the benefits availed as a resident in UAE.
Continuity of cover when changing residency from one country to another is a very important and helpful feature of term plans in UAE, other wise the cost of insurance would go up every time the insured has to buy a new policy when moving to another country, as the insured would older than before, and also the risk of non insurability increases.
US Dollar Denominated Plans : All insurance providers offer Term Insurance plans in US Dollar denomination, which is an ideal risk against a falling rupee. Rupee value has been constantly depreciating for the last 40 years, and more rapidly in the last few years.
Given the rapidly growing population in India, which has to be fed, clothed, entertained and treated for medical ailments, India has to rely on imports largely for crude, coal, edible oil technology, medicines, defence equipment and many many more…
The constantly increasing demand for imported goods and services, will create more demand for US dollar, which is a medium of exchange for international transactions, hence further depreciating the Indian rupee.
The adjacent chart shows the extent of rupee depreciation in the last 5 years, confirming the adverse impact of depreciating rupee on your rupee denominated insurance or investment plans.
![Term Insurance NRI]()
Indian Rupee has depreciated by more than 34% in the last 5 years, almost at the rate of 7.00% per year
Easy access of Insurance Proceeds : As term Insurance plans in UAE are portable, in the unfortunate event of claim, the proceeds can be paid out in any part of the world, making it easier to pay for money requirements outside India like;
![Term Insurance UAE]()
“Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.
- Paying off loans and mortgages of an expat
- To enable the family to continue live as expats in UAE or any other country, allowing the children to continue their studies up-to a certain age
- Paying for higher education costs for studies abroad
- Enabling the insured and his family to continue to live in UAE in the event of diagnosis of a major illness, without worrying about paying bills, as the bills can be paid out of insurance proceeds.
Access of funds outside India from insurance proceeds of plans in India can be very challenging, involving complex approval processes and tax implications, and unnecessary currency loss and charges.
The above mentioned are some of the points an expat should consider, when looking to avail a term insurance plan.
What about you?
Are you covered adequately for loss of income due to death disability or most importantly critical illness?
If not, what is stopping you?
Call me now to understand how easy and affordable it is to avail term insurance in UAE or click here to arrange a free and wholistic financial planning meeting.
Statistics Source : http://www.intelligenthealth.ae/hic/7-seriously-crazy-uae-health-statistics/
“Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.
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You may change the cover amounts of your Futura, depending on your protection needs. Your life insurance needs may increase or decrease, depending on various life events like;
You may include or remove the optional riders to your Futura to suit your protection needs.