Experts appointed in onshore UAE court proceedings must hold professional indemnity insurance under the Federal Decree Law No. 21/2022 and accompanying Implementing Regulations. The requirements of the professional indemnity insurance and the controls for submitting a claim have somewhat been clarified by the recent UAE Ministerial Decision No.211/2024. In brief, the PI insurance policy must:
- be obtained from a licensed local insurer.
- cover liability for errors committed by the experts in carrying out specialised work as assigned to them by the court or the litigants.
- provide cover of not less than: AED 1,000,000 for individuals, AED 5,000,000 for local expertise houses, and AED 6,000,000 for international expertise houses.
- not be conditional or revocable at any time throughout the period of registration of the Experts and local and international Expertise Houses in the Roll.
- include the obligation of the insurance company to pay the insurance 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 the assigned duty.
- Dishonesty.
- Fraud and deception.
- Disclosure of information, data, or trade secrets that he has perused by virtue of his work.
- Defamation
- Any other compensation adjudged for professional and technical errors he commits while performing his duties.
- be valid for at least three years.
Comments
The Decision reaffirms that court-appointed experts are not immune from negligence liability. Notably, the Decision confirms that the expert could also be liable for defamation claims, which could give rise to future litigation in these areas and potentially inhibit experts in the performance of their mandates.
Whilst the three-year PI insurance requirement is unusual within the insurance sector, this is linked to the expert’s registration on the Rolls for a three-year term before renewal is required.
Crucially, PI insurers will be obligated to pay claims pursuant to the Ministerial Decision’s relatively short timeframe of 30 days following the insured’s submission of the adjudged claim (which we interpret to mean within 30 days of a judgment against the expert being provided to the insurer).
Finally, while the Decision appears to envisage cover for fraud and deception, this is an uninsurable risk (see Article 1039 of the UAE Civil Code).
If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with Michael Morris or Olivia Darlington.
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