Job Discussion Forums

[chickpea80]

I've been renting for the short while I've been here but I figure in the long run it's cheaper to buy. That is unless car insurance is expensive like it is in my native Canada.

So- can any tell me from their experience: how much is car insurance? What do you pay? What's generally covered?
Is it better to rent?

[veiledsentiments]

I figure if you are going to be there over 2 years, it is better to buy. If you are relatively certain that you will want to renew your contract when that time comes up.

I can't tell you the costs these days, but a "no claims letter" from an insurance company back home will normally get you a significant discount.

VS

[Eisenhorn]

Unless you have been driving on a UAE license (or a GCC license) for a year or two you will pay higher insurance rates.

The insurance here is based on the value of your vehicle. So the more expensive your car, the more you pay in insurance.

So I can't just tell you it will be xxx amount, because it varies depending on the vehicle.

I have a used SUV, and our first year here it was almost 2,000 AED to get it insured. This year when we renewed it, they dropped it to 1,000 AED but wouldn't go any lower.

The real problem is that there are only a handful of companies which will insure people who dont have at least a year on a UAE/GCC driving license and they will charge you more.

[Iamherebecause]

I've never heard the bit about how long you have had a local licence affecting insurance premiums before.

The problem here is that they insure cars rather than drivers; and it can be hard, in fact almost impossible, to get fully comprehensive insurance for an older vehicle. Given that the sort of older 4WD many teaching folk drive is likely to be older than say 5 years but nevertheless still worth quite a few thousand dirhams that is very inconvenient. 3rd party all the way. I have heard that e.g. Norwich Union will issue fully comp insurance for an older vehicle but only if you insured the same vehicle with them from new.

[Eisenhorn]

I have been told by several people, including my insurance, that your first year in the UAE/gulf you have a much higher chance of getting into an accident. So they charge you more.

I know that my insurance went from 2000 AED a year for my SUV to 1200 when after my first year here with no accidents, and this year it went down to 900AED because of 2 years of no accidents.

[veiledsentiments]

What if you had come from another Gulf country and were able to give them a no-claims letter from the previous company? In the past, that always cut my premium in half from the start. (worked in Oman, Kuwait, and the UAE)

In fact, it even worked in Oman providing a letter from US insurer at my first Gulf job.

VS

[mishmumkin]

My car's original value was just over 90,000 dirhams. The insurance cost about 4000 for the first year (I had a license in Dubai that was about 6 years old when I got this last car, though no recent driving history). My car was keyed this past year, so I made a claim to get it fixed (bad enough to get it fixed). That claim pushed my annual insurance up to 4500 dirhams/year. So, an established local license and a premium of 4000 w/ Axa insurance...colleagues of mine w/ no local license a similar car did not pay more than I did.

[adorabilly]

Hey Mish.

It could be that eisen and you are in different emirates. Maybe he (can't see a woman with that name) is in a smaller emirate??

I know in RAK, there are VERY few insurers who will even talk to an expat who hasn't had a UAE/GCC driving license for at least a year. (there is like ONE, RAK insurance).

Now this is for USED cars. I'm not sure about new cars as I don't have a new car.

But for used cars in a smaller emirate, the rate for the first insurance is much higher (unless you have a GCC/UAE license for more than a year).

[mishmumkin]

Maybe that's the case, adorabilly, but I'm wondering if this is a new vs. used issue. Used cars having a much lower value that drives down the insurance cost. I bought new.