Civil Law and UAE — Ultra-Short Insurance Law Points

1. Meaning of Insurance Law

Insurance law regulates the relationship between:

Insurer ↔ Insured ↔ Beneficiary ↔ Broker/Intermediary ↔ Reinsurer

The principal current federal framework is Federal Decree-Law No. 48 of 2023 Regulating Insurance Activities. It provides regulatory rules and an insurance-dispute mechanism through the Banking and Insurance Dispute Settlement Unit. (UAE Legislation)

2. Ultra-Short Insurance Rules

3. Insurance Contract Formula

Remember:

Risk + Premium + Policy + Insured Event + Claim = Insurance Relationship

For payment:

Policy Coverage → Insured Event → Causation → Proof → Indemnity

4. Policy Wording

The insurance policy is central evidence.

Always identify:

insured;

insurer;

insured property/person;

period of insurance;

insured risks;

exclusions;

deductibles;

limits;

conditions;

notification requirements;

claims procedure;

governing law;

jurisdiction.

Memory

“Coverage is determined from the policy + applicable law.”

5. Disclosure and Misrepresentation

Insurance depends heavily on accurate risk information.

Important issues include:

material non-disclosure;

inaccurate declarations;

misrepresentation;

change in risk;

fraudulent claim;

policy avoidance;

coverage disputes.

In Horizon Energy LLC v Al Buhaira National Insurance Company [2022] DIFC CA 015, the insurer sought declaratory relief concerning avoidance of insurance policies and alleged misrepresentation/non-disclosure. The case also addressed the interaction between the federal Insurance Law and DIFC jurisdiction. (DIFC Courts)

6. Insurance Claim

A typical claim requires:

Valid Policy → Covered Event → Compliance → Loss → Evidence → Claim

Example:

Fire occurs → policy covers fire → insured proves damage → insurer assesses claim → indemnity becomes payable according to the policy and law.

A policy does not automatically cover every loss merely because the loss occurred during the policy period.

7. Exclusions

An exclusion removes specified risks from coverage.

Examples may include:

particular categories of damage;

specified conduct;

excluded property;

geographical restrictions;

contractual exclusions;

specified circumstances.

Exam rule

First identify the basic coverage; then examine exclusions and conditions.

8. Causation

Causation is crucial.

Question:

Was the loss caused by an insured peril?

Example:

Policy covers fire damage.

If property is damaged by fire → potentially covered.

If the claimed loss is unrelated to the insured peril → coverage may not follow.

9. Insurance Dispute Procedure

Under the 2023 Insurance Law, disputes arising from insurance contracts, insurance business and services are subject to the Banking and Insurance Dispute Settlement Unit's committee mechanism. The legislation provides specific rules concerning challenges to committee decisions and court proceedings. (UAE Legislation)

This is particularly important because the 2023 regime must be distinguished from the former Article 110 mechanism under Federal Law No. 6 of 2007.

10. DIFC Insurance Jurisdiction

Insurance disputes can raise difficult jurisdictional questions.

In Horizon Energy LLC v Al Buhaira National Insurance Company [2022] DIFC CA 015, the DIFC Court of Appeal held that the former Insurance Law did not itself create an exclusive jurisdiction preventing the DIFC Courts from hearing an insurance dispute where jurisdiction was otherwise properly established. The case concerned the former 2007 Insurance Law, so it should not simply be treated as a statement of the current 2023 federal regime. (DIFC Courts)

Important current-law caution

The 2023 Insurance Law changed the statutory dispute-resolution framework. Therefore:

2007 Article 110 cases = historical/interpretive authorities, not automatic statements of 2023 procedure.

11. Reinsurance

Insurance

Insurer → Insured

Reinsurance

Insurer → Reinsurer

The insured normally has its contractual relationship with the insurer, while the reinsurer's obligations arise from the separate reinsurance contract.

In Nessim v Nader [2024] DIFC CFI 013, the dispute involved insurance and reinsurance arrangements, including the governing law and jurisdiction of a reinsurance contract. The Court considered whether an agreement to UAE jurisdiction necessarily amounted to an implied choice of UAE federal law and rejected that proposition on the facts. (DIFC Courts)

12. Insurance and Jurisdiction Clauses

A policy may contain:

governing-law clause;

jurisdiction clause;

arbitration clause;

dispute-resolution procedure.

These provisions must be read carefully.

In Atul Ashok Amir Chand Dhawan v Zurich International Life Limited [2025] DIFC CFI 019, the DIFC Court considered policy wording referring to a competent UAE legal authority and concluded that the DIFC Courts lacked jurisdiction on the particular facts. The Court also noted that it was unnecessary to decide whether the 2023 Insurance Law itself excluded DIFC jurisdiction. (DIFC Courts)

Memory

“UAE jurisdiction wording does not automatically answer which UAE court has jurisdiction.”

13. Insurance and Fraud

Insurance fraud may involve:

fabricated loss;

inflated loss;

false documents;

deliberate concealment;

fraudulent claim;

false circumstances surrounding an insured event.

In Horizon Energy, the DIFC Court of Appeal gave the example of an insurer seeking recovery where an insurance payment was alleged to have been obtained fraudulently, illustrating that not every insurer-initiated dispute fits within the former insured-complaint mechanism. (DIFC Courts)

14. Important Case Laws

1. Horizon Energy LLC v Al Buhaira National Insurance Company [2022] DIFC CA 015

Principle: Insurance disputes, policy jurisdiction clauses and the former Article 110 dispute mechanism; important historical authority on DIFC jurisdiction. (DIFC Courts)

2. Al Buhaira National Insurance Company v Horizon Energy LLC [2021] DIFC CFI 098

Principle: The Court considered insurance-policy avoidance, non-disclosure/misrepresentation and the relationship between the Insurance Authority committee process and court proceedings. (DIFC Courts)

3. Union Insurance PJSC v International Precious Metals Refiners LLC [2022] DIFC CFI 064

Principle: The former Article 110 mechanism had limited application and did not necessarily exclude DIFC jurisdiction where the parties had agreed to DIFC jurisdiction. (DIFC Courts)

4. Nessim v Nader [2024] DIFC CFI 013

Principle: Reinsurance, governing law and jurisdiction must be analysed separately; a UAE jurisdiction clause does not necessarily constitute an implied choice of UAE federal substantive law. (DIFC Courts)

5. Atul Ashok Amir Chand Dhawan v Zurich International Life Limited [2025] DIFC CFI 019

Principle: The wording of the policy's jurisdiction provision must be examined carefully; on the facts, the DIFC Court was not a competent court for the claim. (DIFC Courts)

6. Al Buhaira National Insurance Company v Waleed Mohammad & Others [2026] DIFC CFI 010

Principle: A recent insurance dispute concerning fire damage, policy coverage and jurisdiction demonstrates the continuing importance of policy wording and jurisdiction analysis under the post-2023 framework. (DIFC Courts)

7. Naatiq v Nabeeh [2024] DIFC ARB 018

Principle: Parallel insurance-related proceedings can raise serious concerns about inconsistent judgments and duplication where claims arise from the same policy and insured events. (DIFC Courts)

8. Najee v Nash [2023] DIFC SCT 496

Principle: An insurance-policy dispute can raise threshold jurisdictional issues before the merits are considered; the DIFC SCT declined jurisdiction on the facts. (DIFC Courts)

15. Insurance vs Reinsurance

16. Ultra-Short Exam Formula

I-R-C-E-J

I — Insured risk
R — Risk event
C — Coverage/causation
E — Evidence/exclusions
J — Jurisdiction

For an insurance problem, ask:

1. Is there a valid policy?
2. What exactly is covered?
3. Did the insured event occur?
4. Is the loss causally connected?
5. Is there an exclusion or breach of condition?
6. What evidence proves the loss?
7. Which dispute-resolution mechanism/court applies?

One-line memory

“Insurance liability = Policy + Covered Risk + Insured Event + Causation + Proof − Applicable Exclusions.”

Current-law caution: The Federal Decree-Law No. 48 of 2023 is the key federal insurance statute for the current regime; several leading DIFC cases above concern the former 2007 Insurance Law, so they should be used primarily for their factual, contractual and jurisdictional reasoning rather than mechanically transplanted into every dispute under the 2023 legislation. (UAE Legislation)