What does term life insurance pay, and for how long?

Term life insurance pays a set sum to the people you name if you die during the term. If you are alive when the term ends, the policy stops and pays nothing.¹ Under UAE law the insurer pays the agreed amount without anyone having to prove a loss.²

What do UAE term plans let you choose?

You choose the amount, the term and the currency, within the limits each insurer publishes. These are the limits in the documents for six plans, as of 12 November 2026.

Sources for each row: HAYAH,³⁴ MetLife,⁵⁶ Sukoon¹ and Zurich.⁷

Check your own age and term against these with the term length tool.

Should the amount stay the same or fall over time?

Sukoon Term Protect offers both.¹ Zurich’s International Term Assurance is level cover only.⁷ Level cover pays the same amount whenever you die in the term. Decreasing cover falls over the term. MetLife’s Live Life, for example, reduces decreasing cover at each policy anniversary at a rate you pick from 0%, 4%, 6% or 8%, and allows decreasing cover only for terms of 5 to 30 years.⁵

MetLife sets the premium by age, gender, smoking status, amount, term and, for decreasing cover, the rate of decrease.⁵ Zurich fixes the life cover premium for the whole term.⁷

If the cover is for a loan, ask the insurer to show how the cover falls against your loan’s repayment schedule.

What else can a term plan pay for?

Some benefits come with the life cover. Others are riders you add, each with its own price and conditions. Those named in the documents above include:

• Terminal illness, built into Zurich’s and MetLife’s life cover. Zurich pays the life cover if you are diagnosed with less than 12 months to live, unless the diagnosis falls in the last 18 months of the term.⁷ MetLife pays 100% of the death benefit, up to USD 10 million, but the benefit starts 12 months after the policy is issued and ends 12 months before the term ends.⁵
• Critical illness, paid as an advance on the life cover or as an extra sum. See critical illness cover.
• Permanent and total disability, and waiver of premium if you cannot work. Zurich’s waiver applies after 180 days of incapacity.⁷
• Accidental death, an extra sum if death is caused by an accident.¹

Sukoon’s Term Protect and Sukoon Takaful’s Family Takaful Term include a critical illness payment of 15% of the cover as standard, after which the life cover falls to 85% for three months and then 50%. It does not apply where the policy is assigned to a mortgage lender.¹⁸

Ask for each rider’s premium separately, so you can see what the life cover alone costs.

What happens if you stop paying or leave the UAE?

If you stop paying, the cover ends and you get nothing back. Zurich says it will not refund any premiums, and the policy has no cash-in value at any time.⁷ Sukoon allows a grace period of 90 calendar days and lets you apply to reinstate the policy within 3 years after that, which may need new medical tests or declarations.¹

Several plans keep covering you if you move abroad. MetLife’s Live Life Now page says the plan continues if you leave the UAE.⁶ Zurich says cover continues if you move permanently to another country, subject to its rules at the time.⁷ MetLife’s key features set a lower maximum cover for non-residents, USD 5 million against USD 50 million for residents.⁵

Ask your insurer in writing whether your cover continues if you move, and to which countries.

What is not covered?

Every plan lists exclusions. Zurich’s list includes suicide in the first year, a claim affected by facts you did not disclose, and a claim caused by alcohol or drug misuse.⁷ Under UAE law an insurer need not pay the sum on a suicide, but must return the insurance reserve to the beneficiary.²

Read the exclusions page of the key features document before you sign. You can still cancel within the free-look period of at least 30 days.⁹

The small print

• Currencies. MetLife Live Life is sold in USD, GBP, EUR and AED.⁵ Sukoon Term Protect is sold in USD and AED.¹
• Joint life. Sukoon Term Protect can cover two people on one policy and continue on the second life after a claim on the first.¹
• Free cover while you apply. Zurich gives free life cover from application until the policy starts, for up to 60 days, for the amount applied for or USD 250,000, whichever is lower.⁷ HAYAH gives free temporary life cover from application until the policy is issued.³
• The law. The insurer’s duty to pay without proof of loss is Article 977 and the suicide rule Article 979 of Federal Decree by Law No. (25) of 2025, in force from 1 June 2026.²