Do you need buildings insurance, and what does it pay for?

Buildings insurance covers the home itself: walls, roof, floors, built-in kitchen and bathrooms, and fixed services.

Who needs buildings insurance?

You need it if the structure is yours and nobody else insures it. In a jointly owned building in Dubai, the management entity must insure the building and pass the premium on through service charges.¹ In Abu Dhabi the community management company insures “the building and common parts”.²

That leaves three groups who usually buy buildings cover themselves:

• Villa owners where no building or community policy covers the house. Ask the management company in writing before you buy.
• Landlords, who also want the owner’s liability and loss of rent sections, see landlord insurance.
• Mortgage borrowers. ADCB says that for the duration of the loan, “insuring the property and maintaining a life insurance policy are mandatory”.³ See home insurance for a mortgage.

What does buildings insurance pay for?

Damage by the events the policy lists. Liva’s 2026 wording covers the buildings against fire, explosion, lightning and earthquake; smoke; escape of water or oil; impact; falling trees and aerials; riot; malicious damage; storm or flood; theft with forced entry; and accidental damage.⁴ It defines buildings as the home “built of brick stone or concrete and roofed with incombustible material”, including garages, pools, terraces, drives, walls, fences, gates and “landlord’s permanent fixtures and fittings”.⁴

Sukoon’s Home Umbrella page lists buildings cover “As per Policy Schedule/Property Value”, debris removal of AED 10,000 and owner’s legal liability to the public of AED 3,000,000.⁵

How much should the buildings be insured for?

The full cost of rebuilding. GIG Gulf’s handbook says the buildings sum insured “must at all times” represent that cost.⁶ Liva pays repairs without a deduction for wear only if “The sum Insured is not less than the cost of rebuilding the buildings” and the buildings are in good repair. Otherwise it pays, at its option, the repair cost less wear and tear, or the fall in the building’s value.⁴

Rebuilding cost is not the price you paid. It leaves out the land. Ask a surveyor or your insurer how it sets the figure, and check it at each renewal. If the sum is too low, the under-insurance rules cut the claim.

What does the law say about fire claims?

The 2025 Civil Transactions Law, in force from 1 June 2026, has its own fire insurance articles.⁷

• The insurer is liable “for all damages arising directly from the fire, whatever its cause”, including damage from steps taken to rescue property or stop the fire spreading (Article 968).
• It pays for fire caused by your unintentional fault, but not damage you cause intentionally or through gross fault, “even if otherwise agreed” (Article 969).
• It pays for fire caused by your dependants “whatever the type and extent of their fault” (Article 970), and for a fire that arose from an inherent defect in the insured item (Article 971).
• If a lender holds a mortgage over the home and the mortgage is registered or notified to the insurer, the insurer may not pay you without the lender’s consent (Article 975).

Fire safety rules also apply to villas. The Ministry of Interior’s Hassantuk page describes its monitored fire alarm as mandatory for all new and under-construction villas and townhouses from 1 January 2024.⁸

What does buildings insurance not pay for?

Liva’s buildings cover excludes, among others:⁴

• settlement of made-up or reclaimed land, coastal or river erosion and “Gradually operating causes”
• defective design, workmanship or materials
• damage while the property is being built, demolished or structurally altered, or while a neighbouring property is
• damage that started before the policy began
• yards, car parks, walls, gates and fences, unless a building is also damaged

The same wording excludes escape of water, malicious damage and theft after the home has been unoccupied for 60 consecutive days. QIC’s 2016 wording uses 45 days.⁴⁹

Ask your insurer for the buildings sum insured it will accept, and get the excess in writing.