The Indian Consulate has introduced a life insurance package tailored for expatriate workers in the UAE.
Approximately 3.5 million Indian nationals live in the UAE, of whom around 65 per cent are blue-collar workers. The new scheme ensuring that the employees’ families will get compensation of up to Dh75,000 in case of their death, be it due to accidents or natural causes.

Announced by the Consulate in Dubai, the Life Protection Plan (LPP) became effective on March 1.
The initiative was specifically designed to cater to the needs of the 2.27 million blue-collar workers employed in the UAE, aiming to fill the void in employment benefits, the consulate highlighted.

Despite the prevalent provision of health insurance and compensation for work-related incidents, there exists a notable absence of mandatory coverage for natural deaths among employees. Consequently, the families of many workers could find themselves without adequate funds for repatriation expenses in the unfortunate event of the breadwinner's demise.

In response to this pressing concern, the Indian Consulate facilitated a meeting between prominent UAE-based companies that recruit blue-collar workers and two insurance service providers, striving to tackle this gap in coverage.

What are the Benefits?

The insurance scheme presents annual premiums varying between Dh37 and Dh72, applicable to individuals aged 18 to 70 years.

In the event of a worker's death due to either an accident or natural causes, beneficiaries are eligible for compensation ranging from Dh35,000 to Dh75,000, contingent upon the chosen premium.

Additionally, the plan offers coverage up to Dh12,000 for the repatriation of the insured employee's remains.
Two insurance firms collaborated on tailoring a package tailored specifically for blue-collar workers, followed by negotiations on the terms and conditions with recruitment companies.

The Policy and Compensation

• For the policy with Dh72 annual premium, the compensation is Dh75,000
• For Dh50 per year, it's Dh50,000
• For Dh37, it's Dh35,000 

Community Welfare

In 2022, the Indian Consulate registered 1,750 deaths in Dubai, with 1,100 of them being workers. A comparable pattern was observed in 2023, where 1,000 worker fatalities were recorded out of a total of 1,513 deaths. Over 90 per cent of these fatalities were due to natural causes.

“The welfare of the Indian community remains our utmost priority," said Consul-General Satish Sivan.
"Keeping in view a large number of natural death cases of workers in a year and in order to provide some financial benefits to the family of the deceased, the Consulate-General of India, Dubai, encourages all companies to consider a subscription to the LPP," he added.

For any enquiries or information, contact ask@tlr.ae or call us on +971 52 644 3004. Follow The Law Reporters on WhatsApp Channels.