UAE residents from France, the United Kingdom and Australia are among the safest drivers in the country, according to a new study from yallacompare, the Middle East’s leading comparison site.
Using no-claims statistics from its insurance comparison platform, yallacompare can reveal that French residents of the UAE are the safest drivers in the country, with 94.4% of French drivers having made no claims in the past year. Drivers from the United Kingdom are the next safest, with 93.4% of Britons having at least a year’s no-claims on their car insurance policies.
Australians and Americans are the UAE’s joint-third safest drivers; just 6.9% of drivers from these countries have made a claim on their insurance policies in the past year.
At the other end of the scale, yallacompare’s analysis reveals that UAE drivers from the Philippines are the riskiest to insure, with 13.1% of Filipino drivers in the UAE having made a claim on their insurance policies in the past year. Egyptian drivers are the second-riskiest, with 11.9% of drivers from this country having made a claim. Drivers from Sudan round off the top three nationalities for the most claims; 11.1% made a claim on their UAE insurance policies over the past 12 months.
“Our online car insurance comparison platform requires users to provide personal details, as well as indicate whether they’ve made a claim on a previous insurance policy, before they are served a selection of quotes to choose from. Having served millions of quotes to UAE consumers, we can use this data to identify accurate insurance trends among the different demographics of the UAE,” said Jonathan Rawling, CFO at yallacompare.
“For example, our data shows that those aged between 25 and 29 are the riskiest age group to insure, with 11.9% of people in this age bracket having made a claim on their UAE car insurance policy in the past year. As would be expected, those over 50 years old are the safest drivers – 91.6% have at least a year of no claims on their records.”
yallacompare’s study also reveals that those who own cars worth between AED 400,000 and AED 500,000 are the safest drivers, with just 6.5% of such drivers having made a claim on their insurance over the last 12 months. Drivers of cars worth between AED 50,000 and AED 100,000 are the riskiest to insure, with 11.3% having made a claim in the past year.
Regardless of claims history, however, yallacompare’s analysis reveals that UAE residents, on the whole, prefer to pay for better coverage than to simply opt for the cheapest comprehensive policy available to them. Overall, almost 85% of UAE residents do not choose the cheapest option.
“What we’ve found is that, for the most part, UAE residents see the value in additional protection beyond the coverage provided by the most basic insurance policies. Out of thousands of policies sold every month, just 15.3% of users who purchase car insurance through us opt for the cheapest car insurance available,” explained Rawling.
Still, there are some differences among the demographics. Those who own cars worth less than AED 100,000 are more willing to pay for better insurance coverage – just 15% of people in this bracket opt for the cheapest car insurance policy. That’s compared to the 50% of owners of cars worth more than AED 400,000 who opt for the cheapest insurance policy.
The UAE’s oldest drivers are also among the country’s most frugal when it comes to spending on car insurance; 18.1% of those over 50 years old opt for the cheapest car insurance policy, compared to just 14.5% of those aged between 30 and 39.
“It would stand to reason that those over 50 years old feel confident enough in purchasing cheaper insurance, given that they are, as a demographic, the safest drivers in the UAE. What’s more, our data suggests that those between the age of 30 and 39 are more willing to pay for additional features such as off-road cover,” said Radhika Agnihotri, Insight Analyst at yallacompare.
“People in this age group are, anecdotally speaking, insuring a premium car for the first time, and they’ll often want to get the most out of that car – whether it’s dune-bashing in the desert or simply taking it for long drives around the UAE. Because of this, they’ll see value in purchasing insurance that offers increased levels of protection.”
In terms of the most frugal nationalities, UAE nationals top the list with 28.1% of Emiratis opting for the least expensive option. In second are Sudanese drivers, 25.4% of whom choose the cheapest policy. Egyptian drivers round off the top three, with 21.5% purchasing the cheapest insurance available.
