Most customers in Dubai just want to know if they are covered right now, according to David Hayes, regional CEO of Pacific Prime.
And they will be so long as they are not newly entering the Middle East or a participant in the conflict.
Over the weekend, the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Iran has since retaliated hitting targets including expat hubs across the Middle East, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Health & Protection caught up with Hayes, who leads the Pacific Prime team in Dubai, to gauge the situation on the ground as well as how clients are being supported.
Understanding benefits
While Hayes does not deal with customer enquiries on a day-to-day basis, he revealed customers are most interested in whether they are covered or not.
“People are a bit nervous, so you’ve got some people who want to understand what their benefits cover is in situations like this,” Hayes said.
“Most of the insurers will cover you in situations like this as long as you are not an active participant or actively putting yourself at risk.
“The airports are down, but if you flew into the UAE and you are not a resident, then insurers would have a problem with that too.
“But if you’re a resident here, most of your plans will cover you for this kind of issue.
“For the most part, if you’re an innocent bystander and you’re injured in some scenario, pretty much all of the insurers will cover you.
“It’s usually in their policy wordings,” he added.
Uneasy calm
Hayes also maintained that while the tabloid media elsewhere is painting a picture of “terror and horror” the current situation is far less severe.
“It’s calm,” Hayes explained.
“It’s an uneasy calm, people are a bit nervous, but the reality is that people are okay. We’ve got confidence in the UAE government in terms of what they’re doing.
“We heard a couple of loud bangs on Saturday and Sunday and Monday morning.
“But Monday night and Sunday night were very quiet, but people are working from home and it’s a certain extent it’s business as usual or as much as you can get business as usual.”
