Insurance rules in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi

Who runs KEZAD?

What insurance and guarantees do companies in KEZAD need?

Third party liability

• If you are licensed in the Abu Dhabi Free Zone, you must take out and maintain third party liability or public liability insurance and workmen's compensation insurance in line with the requirements of your personnel sponsorship agreement.¹
• Under a KEZAD lease, the insured risks include third party or public liability for personal injury, death and loss of or damage to any property, including the landlord's, arising from the lease or your use of the premises, for at least the amount the landlord sets by notice from time to time or, if it sets none, an amount consistent with international best practice.²

Workmen's compensation

• Your workmen's compensation insurance must cover every employment injury, disability or both, and the related medical expenses, in line with the UAE Labour Law.¹

Bank guarantee

• If the Abu Dhabi Free Zone authority is to sponsor employees on your behalf who are not UAE or Gulf Cooperation Council nationals, you must lodge with it a bank guarantee in its approved standard form for each of those employees, of an amount it sets and up to any maximum number of employees it sets, and the authority may waive the guarantee in whole or in part.¹

Property all risks

• If you lease premises from KEZAD, you must insure and keep insured throughout the lease, with reputable insurers licensed in the UAE and subject to the insurers' exclusions, excesses, limits and terms, against loss or damage by the insured risks, including water damage from sprinkler leakage or malfunction, and hold contents insurance, civil liability insurance, business interruption insurance for at least two years, and annual workmen's compensation and employer's liability insurance for your workers at the premises.²

Lease deposit

• If you lease KEZAD premises, you must pay the security deposit set in your lease particulars to the landlord, in the way it requires, on or before signing the lease.²

Other

• If you hold an Abu Dhabi Ports Company approval for works in a KEZAD zone, you have the liability set out in your tenure document and must comply with the insurance requirements it sets out.³

Do you need health insurance for your staff in KEZAD?

• You must obtain a government health card from the Health Authority Abu Dhabi for every employee the zone sponsors, and a medical fitness certificate for each employee from a government hospital or clinic.¹

The rule for employers across Abu Dhabi is on the Abu Dhabi page.