Over half of Dubai residents don’t have home insurance – survey

Up to 61 per cent of Dubai residents do not have home insurance, with 75 per cent of renters not feeling the need to have such coverage, a new survey has found.

The online survey, conducted by Dubai-based home services marketplace MoveSouq.com and insurance provider RSA, showed that 67 per cent of apartment buildings and 50 per cent of villas in Dubai are uninsured.

The adoption of home insurance is substantially higher amongst owners, with 66 per cent holding an insurance policy to cover their home and contents.

However, only 25 per cent of renters feel the need to have home insurance coverage, the poll found.

MoveSouq.com CEO Bana Shomali said: “Given the widely reported incidents of apartment building fires in major residential areas of Dubai, it is quite surprising that so many homes remain uninsured even when basic content insurance is widely available and affordable.”

Dubai has seen a spate of fire accidents at high-rise towers in recent years. In February, a massive fire blazed through the 340-metre high Dubai Marina Torch Tower, one of the tallest residential buildings in the area. Two years back, a fire that engulfed the Tamweel Tower in Jumeirah Lakes Towers also caused extensive damage to property.

“While it is not surprising to see that the uptake of home content insurance remains low in Dubai, it is alarming that it is used the least compared to other types of insurance with only three out of 10 saying they have applied for it,” said RSA’s sales and marketing director David Harris.

“These penetration levels are far lower than more mature markets in the West and can be attributed to the prevailing perception among a majority of residents that home and content insurance is not necessary or that it is not worth the expense.

“Furthermore, we have seen that people are often only likely to consider this type of insurance once the damage has already been done,” he added.

The survey also found that insurance policies for travel, personal accidents and life had low penetration levels among Dubai residents standing at 36 per cent, 40 per cent and 45 per cent respectively.

On the other hand, health and car insurance are widely adopted in Dubai. While 91 per cent of the respondents had medical insurance, all of them confirmed that they had motor insurance.

“The relatively higher uptake of these types of insurance should come as no surprise as they are mandated by the government,” added Shomali.