Less than 1% of homes are insured against theft in UAE

An insurance firm's statistics reveal that less than 1 per cent of its customers in the UAE have their valuables covered with home contents insurance.

This effectively implies that maximum three of 289 families would have had their losses covered.

“Effects of crimes such as theft and burglary can become a lot more magnified because of the financial losses that are associated with it,” said Frederik Bisbjerg, Executive Vice-President, MENA Retail from of Qatar Insurance Company’s retail arm QIC Insured.

“We have witnessed this trend in many instances; people believe that since their apartment or villa is insured, their home contents or valuables would be insured too - which explains why more than 99% of customers do not have home contents insurance. The matter of the fact is that home contents have to be insured separately.”

Home contents insurance can be purchased for less than a dirham per day and when purchased, the family would be covered for loss of or damage to their belongings against theft or burglary.

“I believe the main reason for not taking out insurance apart from what’s required by law is the understanding of personal insurance, which is deeply rooted in the Middle Eastern culture. Historically, families have always helped the affected when losses have occurred and this belief and practice is still prevalent in the culture”, explains Frederik Bisbjerg.

“However, this does not change the fact that burglaries and accidents do happen and it saddens me to see families in financial distress after the incident.”

For many, it is still an unknown known fact that families with domestic servants are liable for accidents caused during the course of work and that they would have to reimburse the servants in case of accidents that cause permanent disability or death. Such eventualities can also be covered by home contents insurance.

Two useful tips that UAE residents can follow to keep their home and belongings safe and secure when away:

1. Have friends watch over the house so that it appears inhabited.

2. Keep the doors and windows shut and locked when stepping out to prevent a passerby from committing a crime.