New UAE laws mandating professional indemnity insurance cover for notaries, experts and translators

The Ministerial Decisions

The Ministerial Decisions

The new laws include:

1. Ministerial Decision No. 208/2024:¹ this Ministerial Decision requires all applicants for registration as a private notary in the UAE to obtain policy coverage for errors that arise in the course of their private notarial work. They are required to obtain coverage in the amount of at least AED 1 million.
2. Ministerial Decision No. 211/2024:² this Ministerial Decision pertains to experts appointed in onshore UAE court proceedings. The minimum coverage amounts are AED 1 million for individual experts, AED 5 million for local expertise houses, and AED 6 million for international expertise houses.
3. Ministerial Decision No. 215/2024:³ this Ministerial Decision mandates that all translators and translation houses in the UAE obtain professional indemnity insurance coverage. The minimum policy cover required to be taken out is AED 1 million for individuals, or AED 5 million for translation houses.

Policy Requirements

The new Ministerial Decisions impose some detailed requirements in relation to the terms of professional indemnity policies required to be taken out by UAE notaries, experts and translators.

The requirements outlined in each Ministerial Decision are substantively identical.

In summary, the PI policy must:

1. be issued by a local UAE insurance company;
2. indemnify the private notary, expert or translator for losses arising from errors committed by it in the course of performing its work;
3. be valid for a term of at least three years;
4. not be conditional or revocable at any time throughout the period of the private notary’s registration on the UAE Register, the expert’s registration on the UAE Roll of Experts, or the translator’s registration on the UAE Roll of Translators; and
5. impose an obligation on the insurance company to pay the insured amount to the beneficiary within thirty days from the date of filing the claim for payment of the adjudged compensation in the following cases:
   — Loss, damage and destruction of any tangible documents related to the work.
   — Negligence or breach of his assigned duty.
   — Dishonesty.
   — Fraud and deception.
   — Disclosure of information, data or trade secrets that he has perused by virtue of his work.
   — Libel and defamation.
   — Any other compensation adjudged for professional and technical errors he commits in the course of performing his duties.

Analysis

The new Ministerial Decisions provide a greater level of clarity and detail in relation to the professional indemnity insurance coverage required to be obtained by experts, translators and private notaries in the UAE.

Notably, the requirements envisage PI coverage for a range of perils not just limited to negligent practices (such as claims relating to defamation, dishonesty, and fraud), and mandate substantial minimum coverage amounts, particularly for policies obtained by expert and translation houses.

The required three-year policy term is unusual  for a PI insurance policy. However, this reflects the term of registration for experts, translators and private notaries on the relevant UAE roll or register, before renewal is required.

For the insurance sector, these new laws are likely to drive increased demand for professional liability insurance products tailored to translators, experts and notaries. Insurers will need to ensure that they offer policy products which meet the specific requirements outlined in the Ministerial Decisions, such as the minimum coverage limits and non-revocable terms, and ensure that coverage is provided for the specific types of cases enumerated above.

As the laws impose mandatory PI insurance requirements on new classes of professionals, they should serve to provide a greater level of protection for affected clients and claimants.

The mandatory insurance requirements have the potential to impact practices in the UAE for the better, by encouraging experts, translators and private notaries to adopt strong risk management measures to reduce claims and insurance premiums.