Policybazaar.ae and Alliance Insurance Launch UAE's First Term Plan with 100% Premium Refund

Policybazaar.ae and Alliance Insurance have launched the Smart Return Term Plan in the UAE, addressing a primary barrier to life insurance adoption in the region. By offering a return-of-premium option, the partnership aims to increase penetration among residents who traditionally view term life premiums as a sunk cost rather than a protective asset.

What was announced

The Smart Return Term Plan is a life insurance product designed for UAE residents aged 20 to 65, providing coverage up to age 85. While it functions as a standard term life policy—paying a lump-sum death benefit to beneficiaries—it introduces a "Smart Exit" feature for policies with terms of 30 years or more. This feature allows policyholders a one-year window, starting exactly six years before the policy expires, to exit the plan and receive a 100% refund of their base premiums.

The product is denominated in US Dollars, with premium payment options ranging from monthly to annual cycles. Notably, the plan includes built-in coverage for Passive War and Passive Terrorism, capped at $1,000,000 per life. For those seeking shorter-term protection, the plan offers a 20% discount on premiums for terms under 30 years, provided the Sum Assured is $500,000 or greater. There are no policy fees associated with the product. The initiative targets the specific financial landscape of the UAE, where many households depend on a single income to cover significant liabilities like mortgages and school fees, yet often lack adequate life cover. The decision to exit or maintain the policy remains with the customer, allowing them to assess their protection needs later in life when dependents may no longer be financially reliant on them.

"Term insurance is the most important financial decision a breadwinner can make, and the one most often postponed. In the UAE, many families rely on one income for school fees, rent and home loans, yet term cover remains badly underpenetrated. The barrier is not awareness. It is the belief that decades of premiums vanish. Until now, no term plan in this market offered a way to get that money back. The Smart Return Term Plan changes the equation: full protection when it matters most, and a clear path to recover every dollar of base premium. With Alliance Insurance, we are setting a new standard for life cover in the UAE."

Neeraj Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Policybazaar.ae

The companies involved

Policybazaar.ae is a prominent digital insurance aggregator and platform operating in the United Arab Emirates. It serves as a marketplace for customers to compare and purchase various insurance products, leveraging technology to streamline the distribution of personal lines. The platform is part of the broader ecosystem of digital-first insurance services aimed at increasing transparency and ease of access for consumers in the Middle East.

Alliance Insurance P.S.C. is a long-standing player in the UAE insurance market, with a history spanning more than five decades. The company provides a range of insurance solutions across life and general insurance sectors. Its partnership with Policybazaar.ae represents a strategic alignment between a traditional carrier with deep local underwriting experience and a digital distributor capable of reaching a tech-savvy demographic. Alliance Insurance focuses on developing products tailored to the specific socio-economic needs of the UAE’s diverse resident population, maintaining a focus on simplicity and affordability within the life protection segment.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked Policybazaar.ae’s efforts to expand insurance accessibility through strategic partnerships. In July 2026, the publication reported that Policybazaar.ae and Tabby Partner to Launch Interest-Free Insurance Installments via Tap Payments, a move designed to ease the financial burden of premium payments. Additionally, the platform’s integration into government-linked infrastructure was highlighted in the report Policybazaar.ae Partners with SAAED to Embed Insurance into Emirates Vehicles Gate Platform. These prior reports underscore a consistent strategy of using embedded finance and digital distribution to overcome traditional barriers to insurance entry in the region.

What this means from an insurtech perspective

This launch highlights a significant shift in how life products are structured to meet regional psychological barriers. For carriers and MGAs, the "return of premium" model is a powerful tool to combat the low penetration rates typical of the UAE’s market. By blending the low cost of term life with the "savings" appeal of whole life, Alliance Insurance is putting pressure on incumbent life insurers who rely on traditional, more rigid term products. From a distribution standpoint, Policybazaar.ae is reinforcing its role as a product innovator rather than just a price aggregator. The challenge for the sector remains whether the actuarial cost of the "Smart Exit" feature can be sustained without eroding the price advantage that makes term insurance attractive in the first place.