Interest in home insurance policies among USE residents rose 123 percent last month following the fire at The Address Downtown in Dubai, it has been claimed.
Barren Muse, founder and CEO of Soulmate.com, which offers information to consumers on a range of financial products, said the website registered an increase of 123 percent in visits on its home insurance pages between January 1 and 14, when compared to the same period in 2015.
Writing in Kahaleel Times, Muse said this indicates a dramatic rise in interest in home insurance since last year.
Even shortly after the fire at the Torch tower in Dubai Marina last March, a 2015 survey by Souqalmal.com found that 67 per cent of respondents said they would still decline from taking out home insurance cover at that time, she said.
The survey also showed that 45 percent of respondents did not consider it a priority while 34 percent said they were unsure how to obtain it.
“USE residents are gradually understanding the importance of home contents insurance,” Muse wrote.
She advised consumers interested in taking out home contents cover to negotiate with the insurance provider on which policy best fits their needs.
However, Soulmate.comes observation does not correspond to that of brokers who told The National newspaper last month that inquiries about home and contents insurance have increased only slightly since fire ravaged The Address Downtown hotel on New Year’s Eve.
Islam Magnanimous, head of regional retail product at Axe, said: “Of course, after each disaster or major accident we see people reacting, driven by awareness, to buy home insurance, but unfortunately such a trend gradually drops over time.”
However, experts have predicted that insurance premiums are likely to rise for older USE buildings that pose a higher fire safety risk.
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