What will your insurer pay if your car is written off?

The unified policy is the standard wording UAE insurers must use.¹ Its Loss and Damage form is the one that covers your own car. A total loss means your car is written off.

When does your car count as a total loss?

In four cases. In each one, your insurer pays on the agreed value.

• Your car is lost.
• Your car proves irreparable.
• Repair costs are over 50% of your car’s pre-accident value.
• The chassis, or durable parts such as pillars, need cutting, tightening or welding.²

How much will your insurer pay?

Compensation is based on your insured value, less depreciation of 20% of the insured value. How much of your insurance period has passed is also taken into account. That is the time from the start of the policy to the accident, over the total insurance period.²

The policy gives no formula for combining the 20% and that fraction. The deduction may be scaled rather than a flat 20%.³ Table 1 shows how far three assumptions differ.

Each row is an assumption, not the method in the policy. Ask your insurer how it applies the 20%, and whether it waives it.

The percentages that can be added to your excess do not apply on a total loss.² See how much excess you could pay.

What if your chassis is damaged?

Compensation follows “the value agreed upon” in your policy. The 20% deduction sits in a separate clause, and the policy does not say how the two combine for chassis damage.² Ask your insurer.

What if another driver’s policy pays for your car?

That policy treats your car as a total loss if damage is over 50% of its market value at the accident, or for chassis damage. Your car is then valued at its market value at the time of the accident, within the AED 2,000,000 limit.⁴ An expert sets the value, or it is the average of three showroom proposals.⁵

That policy does not state a 20% deduction.⁴

What happens once your car is a total loss?

Your insurer replaces your car unless you ask for cash. It must then respond to that request.

• You pay any dues on the car before you receive compensation.
• If there is a mortgage, your insurer contacts the mortgage holder for the no-objection letter.
• The salvage, meaning what is left of the car, becomes your insurer’s property. You may not be charged title transfer or ownership certificate expenses.
• Your policy ends once registration is deleted with a report that the car is unroadworthy.²

What if you still owe money on your car?

The policy does not say who receives the payment, or what happens if it is less than you owe. It says you pay the dues on the car before you receive compensation, and your insurer contacts the mortgage holder for the no-objection letter.² Ask your bank and your insurer before you agree a settlement.

Do you get any premium back?

The Loss and Damage policy states no refund on a total loss. It says the policy ends and your insurer compensates you. Its refund rule is for when you cancel. That rule applies only if no compensation has been paid and no claim is pending, where you caused the accident or it is deemed committed by an unknown person.² Ask your insurer.

How long does your insurer have to pay?

15 days at most, from your completed claim documents. If it delays beyond that without convincing justification, it compensates the costs you suffer from being without your car.⁵

What if you disagree on the value?

The dispute goes to a registered Surveyor and Loss Adjuster appointed by “the Authority”, at your insurer’s expense.² The Insurance Authority has merged into the Central Bank.⁶ Ask your insurer which body now makes the appointment.

Do you pay towards new parts after a repair?

It depends on your car’s age. If you ask for new original parts in place of damaged parts, or for their cash value, you bear a percentage of the final purchase invoice.² Age runs from the date of first registration and use.

If you are the injured party on another driver’s Third Party policy, parts on a car under one year old are replaced new with no depreciation.⁴

Can you get your purchase price back on a newer car?

It depends on your plan. Several insurers list a total loss add-on.

• GIG Gulf lists back to invoice on total loss at 24 months from first registration on Prestige and 6 months on Perfect. It lists No on Third Party.⁷ Its Motor Prestige handbook covers a car under 24 months old, not imported, bought new from a UAE dealership by its first owner. GIG Gulf then pays, at its decision, the purchase price less certain charges or the retail price of a new car of the same model.⁸
• Sukoon lists Auto Gap Insurance only if it is on your Schedule. It applies to a first-hand car bought from an authorised dealer and less than 6 months old by year of manufacture, unless your Schedule says otherwise. It pays the lower of a brand new replacement and the original purchase value.⁹
• Liva lists New Vehicle Replacement at 6 or 12 months by plan.¹⁰ It gives a new car of the same model, subject to availability, or the value when you bought it, shown as the insured value in your Schedule, whichever is lower. Its wording says no depreciation is applied.¹¹
• RAK Insurance lists Auto GAP Insurance for a new car less than 12 months from registration. It pays for a brand new replacement model within the period in your Schedule, depending on availability.¹²
• The key facts statement for ADIB’s motor takaful, provided by Abu Dhabi National Takaful, lists Waiver of Depreciation for the first 6 months on Motor Excellence and the first 3 months on Motor Elite. It does not say which depreciation that means.¹³

All are on the Central Bank’s September 2026 register.¹⁴ These add-ons use a different basis for newer cars. GIG Gulf’s and Sukoon’s wordings for them do not mention the 20%. Check your Schedule for this add-on.