Job Discussion Forums

[travelling teacher]

Hi all!
I'm an American currently teaching just south of you in Yemen. I've been trying to get a life insurance policy from the US and keep finding that almost all insurers will not write you a policy if you intend to travel to (yet alone live in) a country on the dreaded Department of State list of Travel Warnings [url]http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html[/url]
In that regard, both Saudi and Yemen are on that infamous list and that is why I am posting to this group since we are both "in the same boat."
Do any of you have life insurance? If so, have you gotten it pre-9/11 or post-9/11? Which insurance company was willing to underwrite you?
Any and all leads would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[007]

[Stephen Jones]

Ignore 007. He is living proof that for some people hallucinogenic drugs are quite unnecessary.

As you have found out it is almost impossible to get term life insurance from the US or UK when living in the Gulf. It might well be possible to get it from the country you are living in (there are a fair number of Saudi Insurance companies and there are some that offer term life insurance, including the Saudi National Insurance Company http://www.snic.com.sa/ that strangely enough has its head office in Bahrain) or even from a country you go on holiday in such as Thailand. Online however appears to be expensive: http://www.eglobalhealth.com/ quoted me $627 annual premium for $50,000 coverage for one year, whereas if I had been living in Spain or the UK the premium would have been $377.

[veiledsentiments]

Goodness 007... just when I think that you couldn't possibly make a bigger fool of yourself, you manage. If you have any brains at all, you will delete that post...

VS

[sheikh radlinrol]

I was led to believe that insurance of any kind was illegal in countries such as Kuwait and KSA yet Stephen informs us that there is such a thing as a Saudi insurance company. I don't get it.

[Stephen Jones]

Insurance has never been forbidden. You will sometimes hear the odd idiot who will claim it is unislamic because it is trying to insure against God's will, but that myth is shot down by scholars (after the Gujarat riots in India in 1993 a fatwa was requested of Al-Azhar University which not only stated that term life insurance was permitted but that there was an Islamic duty to make provision for the family in the event of one's sudden demise).

Personal prejudice in the Gulf meant that it was years before car insurance became compulsory in Saudi (the prisons were full of people who had had car accidents and were unable to pay the compensation) but it was always possible to buy it.

What can cause confusion is that life insurance in the Western World is often used to characterize an interest-bearing investment, which is theoretically forbidden in Islam; that is to say you invest a certain amount of money per year which receives interest accrued to the amount paid out when you attain a certain age.

Term life insurance appears to be rare in the Gulf, but stronger extended family ties amongst Gulf natives are the explanation, together with an entirely different socio-economic situation.

[sheikh radlinrol]

Thanks for the prompt explanation. I still do have some doubts, however. I seem to remember being told that insurance was forbidden since one party or the other will inevitably part with their cash.

[Stephen Jones]

[sheikh radlinrol]

Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly. I was told by a student that, in the case of travel insurance for example, either the company paid out or kept the money paid by the client. This, according to my student, was against the religion and therefore against the law.
I'm not trying to pick an argument. Just curious.

[veiledsentiments]

I had car insurance and also purchased travel insurance in Kuwait... (and Oman and the UAE)... easily available. I never needed life insurance so I never looked for it.

VS

[Stephen Jones]

[scot47]

Through our employer a Saudi Insurance broker offers Health Insurance with the added option of Life Insurance. I have used the health cover but hope that my family will not have to claim the payout under the life cover (one year's salary).

Most reasonable people now accept that insurance is 'halal'. 007 and his friends are out on a limb. It makes me wonder if we should listen to the rest of his preaching !

[007]

It seems Scots and his companions are out on limb concerning issue of insurance in SA.
Don�t you know that in SA there is a �fatwa� from the council of Islamic scholars banning any insurance, whatever it aim, life or even car insurance, but this is not obligatory and private companies can provide car or health insurance. Even car insurance, some companies start to provide this insurance only few years ago.
I doubt any insurance company will provide you with a �life insurance� here in SA or Yemen in the sense and terms used in most Western countries!
Don�t you know that in SA, if by accident, you kill somebody in the street in a car accident, you will be put in prison and you have to pay a ransom of SR100000, regardless if you have an insurance or not (of course now some insurance company will pay for you, but is a long term process), and then you will live the hassle of investigation which may take sometime, and during this time you will be enjoying life in that �black� box until the judge decide on your fate! So, what is the point of insurance in this case?
The only �life� insurance you get in SA, in case you have died in a car accident caused by another person , with a condition that it was his fault, your family will get the SR100000 (they should be living in SA, if not, they will miss the cash).

[Stephen Jones]

007's information is out-0f-date or plain wrong. Ignore it and him.

[veiledsentiments]

Always good advice... 007 does babble on with useless information that is usually completely irrelevant to the information that the posters are asking.

VS