Insurance for accountants and auditors in the UAE

Which insurance rules apply to accountants and auditors?

These rules name this kind of business or the work it does.

• Federal. If you are an auditor registered with the Ministry of Economy as a firm, company or branch of a foreign company, you must hold professional liability insurance from an insurer licensed in the UAE, sized to your fees and valid for the whole period you are on the register.²
• Federal. As a registered auditor, your first professional errors cover must be AED 1,000,000 a year if you are a newly registered local company or branch of a foreign company, or AED 500,000 a year if you are a sole establishment, and after that a juristic auditor's cover must equal 100% of annual audit fees up to AED 20,000,000 and 120% above that, with renewal refused if the limits fall short.³
• Federal. To register as a tax agent with the Federal Tax Authority, you must hold professional liability insurance (the Authority's web page calls it professional indemnity insurance) or be covered by such a policy, in proportion to the nature and volume of your tax agent business.⁴
• DIFC. If you apply to register as an auditor in the Dubai International Financial Centre, you must show adequate professional indemnity insurance that covers the work you do in the Centre.⁵
• Federal. If your audit firm audits public joint stock companies or mutual funds, to register with the Capital Market Authority (formerly the Securities and Commodities Authority) you must prove you hold the professional indemnity insurance certificate required to be on the Ministry's list of practising auditors.⁶

Rules for any employer

• Dubai. Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 requires employers to enrol employees in health insurance, bear the cost and keep it valid for the whole service period. It applies across the emirate, including special development zones and free zones such as DIFC.⁷
• Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Law No. 23 of 2005 requires an employer to provide health insurance for its employees and their family members. There is no residence permit, renewal or employment without enrolment.⁸
• Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. From 1 January 2025 an employer buys a health insurance policy as a condition of the residence permit for private sector employees and domestic workers. The UAE Government portal names the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation as the source and describes the rule as extending to Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.⁹
• Every emirate. If your establishment is subject to the federal Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021), you must provide either a bank guarantee of AED 3,000 for each worker or insurance for each worker, under the mechanisms approved by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.¹⁰
• Every emirate. If you employ staff in the private sector or the federal government, each worker must subscribe to the Unemployment Insurance Scheme by buying a policy that insures them if their service ends in the cases where they are eligible. The duty is on the worker, not on you as the employer, and investors who own and work at the establishment, domestic workers, temporary contract workers, workers under 18 and specified retirees are excluded.¹¹

Each emirate page sets out the rule and the authority. Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

How many accountants and auditors are licensed?

A licence counts once, however many activities it holds. Abu Dhabi and Ajman publish licence data by activity as open data.

Which types of cover should accountants and auditors read about?

• Directors and officers
• Professional indemnity