In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), insurance firms are becoming more watchful, strict, and demanding, and they are increasingly requesting more information about policyholders’ medical histories, including previous accidents and surgeries.
According to business executives, since the pandemic, health insurance rates have been steadily increasing by 15% to 20% every year.
According to Moin ur Rehman, executive director of Unitrust Insurance Broker, insurance companies are currently putting more restrictions on the clients they insure.
“Pre-existing medical conditions that were previously considered low-risk may now be viewed more cautiously, leading to higher premiums or even policy rejection,” he said, adding that as a result, policyholders are required to undergo more rigorous health assessments and provide more extensive documentation of their medical history to secure coverage.
According to Hitesh Motwani, chief marketing officer of insurancemarket.ae, insurance firms have been a little bit more cautious in part because all elective procedures during the pandemic were stopped in accordance with government directives.
“After this was lifted, many insurers wanted to get their respective surgeries done, and all insurers onboarding new clients were carefully reviewing health insurance applications keeping this in mind. Accordingly, the insurers charged a higher premium for cases requiring surgeries and this loading typically has been around 100 per cent of the original premium of a standard case,” he said.
Moin ur Rehman noted that insurers are now more likely to demand thorough medical records as well as additional tests and screenings, in order to better understand a person’s risk profile and to reduce possible losses for insurance firms. He also stated that Dubai residents in the 90s encountered difficulties when purchasing life insurance due to his past medical history, which included a bout of pneumonia.
The insurance company required a detailed account of his health history and insisted on additional medical tests before approving the policy.