How to complain about a home insurer in the UAE

Put your case in writing from the start.

How do you complain to the insurer?

Use the insurer’s own complaints route and keep the reference. Liva and GIG Gulf set theirs out in the policy wording.

• Liva aims to resolve concerns within 24 hours, then escalates to its Customer Service Manager. If you are still not satisfied, or have no written offer of resolution “within 8 weeks”, you can write to its Technical Director at feedback@ae.livainsurance.com. Customer service is on 800 Liva (772).¹
• GIG Gulf aims to give you the outcome “within (7) seven working days”. If you are dissatisfied with its final response or with a delay beyond 15 working days, it says you may refer the complaint to the insurance regulator, quoting the GIG Gulf complaint reference, and it gives Sanadak’s contact details.²

Ask for the reason for any refusal in writing, with the clause of the wording the insurer relies on. Keep copies of everything you send and receive, with dates, because Sanadak asks whether you complained to the insurer first and when.³ If the refusal turns on late reporting to the authorities or late documents, note that the 2025 Civil Transactions Law voids a term that removes your right for that delay where it had a valid excuse (Article 958).⁴

When can you go to Sanadak?

After you have complained to the insurer and waited. Sanadak was set up by the Central Bank of the UAE in 2023 and takes complaints against any insurance company it licenses, including property insurance.⁵

Its complaint page asks whether “15 calendar days elapsed after the date you submitted the complaint and either; no written response was sent to you, or you received a response but you are not satisfied with it”.⁵ Its FAQ for firms says a consumer “should wait for 30 calendar days for a response”.⁶

Sanadak may reject a complaint if:³

• you did not raise an official complaint with the insurer first
• you did not wait 15 calendar days
• the complaint is being dealt with by a court
• it relates materially to the insurer’s risk management or internal pricing policy
• it has already been settled with the insurer

What are the time limits and costs?

You can complain “up to three years from the date of the conduct that generated the complaint or up to two years from the date the consumer became aware of the conduct, whichever is longer”. Sanadak says some exceptions may be considered.⁵

Complaints are free for consumers and small and medium businesses. An appeal costs AED 500, refunded “if the determination of the complaint is in favor of the appellant”.⁵

Work out your dates with the complaint deadline calculator.

Can you go to court instead?

Not first. Sanadak says: “For complaints against Insurance Companies, complainants have to complain to Sanadak first and not to the courts.”⁵

If you are not satisfied with Sanadak’s decision, insurance appeals go to the Insurance Dispute Resolution Committee. Sanadak says the appeals committee “aims to provide a decision within twenty working days”, which may be extended.⁶

Separately, the 2025 Civil Transactions Law says claims arising from an insurance contract are not admissible after three years from the event (Article 966).⁴

How do you contact Sanadak?

By phone on 800SANADAK (800 72 623 25), by email at info@sanadak.gov.ae, or at its office in the Emirates Institute of Finance building, Sector E25, Abu Dhabi.⁶ Complaints about insurers go through the insurance complaint option on its website or app.⁵

After the April 2024 rain, the Central Bank itself pointed people with a dispute over a home claim to Sanadak.⁷

Send Sanadak your policy, the insurer’s written refusal, your complaint to the insurer and its reply.