UAE: AXA Gulf extends COVID-19 travel insurance
AXA Gulf has announced that its travel insurance policies will include cover for COVID-19 emergency medical expenses with immediate effect. In addition, the insurer will cover the expenses associated with the rescheduling of a return flight caused as a result of the virus.
Should a policyholder have to cancel or postpone a trip in the event that they test positive for COVID-19, the insurer will reimburse the policyholder for an amount of up to $5,000 for irrecoverable travel costs. Policyholders who are placed under quarantine whilst on holiday will get up to $100 per day for a maximum of 15 days if they cannot isolate themselves safely in their booked accommodation.
The insurer said this move comes as additional flights and destinations are opening up and people are looking forward to enjoying a well-deserved holiday or travelling back home to reunite with their loved ones. It acknowledged that travellers might face crippling healthcare bills if they were to contract the virus whilst overseas, with an average daily cost of treatment in an intensive care unit in a developed country being as much as $5,000.
UAE: Souqalmal.com and Tabby offer ‘zero fee monthly plan’ for motor insurance
Souqalmal.com has ramped up its COVID-19 relief efforts by collaborating with Tabby, a Dubai-based FinTech company, to offer free-of-charge monthly payment plans to car insurance buyers in the UAE.
The monthly payment plans are currently available in three tenure options – three, six and 12 months. The aggregator has removed the processing fees on its three-month instalment plan, making it 100% free for all applicants.
Souqalmal.com and Tabby hope that by removing the fees and allowing more customers to benefit from the service, “we as a team can show our support for UAE residents who are grappling with their new financial realities”. The free monthly payment service also aims to allow car owners to retain comprehensive insurance benefits, without compromising on coverage for the sake of cutting costs.
Souqalmal.com founder & CEO Ambareen Musa said, “In times of financial crisis, the option to convert a big lump-sum payment into smaller monthly payments can bring huge financial relief to customers. We realised that offering this option to all car insurance buyers, especially those whose finances were most severely impacted by the pandemic, would help them free up cash for more crucial expenses.
“We have seen a fantastic take up of the option and based on the results of the launch we wanted to extend the service to many more customers. For the next three months, we have decided to make the monthly payment service completely free-of-charge, without the processing fees. We are hoping this will allow more customers access to the service and help them in these very difficult and unprecedented times.”
Tabby CEO and co-founder Hosam Arab said, “Our partnership with Souqalmal.com over the past few months has shown the value of offering customers the choice of how and when to pay for their car insurance. Customer convenience is at the core of our offering and we believe that offering this as a free service for customers is essential under the current environment.” M