UAE residents now have a new way to manage rising health insurance costs, after Policybazaar.ae introduced a premium-lock feature for selected medical insurance plans.
The new add-on, called Health Insurance Premium Lock, allows eligible customers to keep their health insurance premium at the same rate they accepted when buying the policy. The fixed price can remain in place for up to five years, helping policyholders avoid sudden increases at renewal caused by medical inflation or age-related pricing changes.
The feature is available through Policybazaar.ae on selected Hayah and DIC health insurance plans. It is currently offered to residents in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, with the add-on available at the time of purchasing an eligible policy.
Health insurance costs in the UAE can rise for several reasons. One of the main factors is medical inflation, as treatment costs, hospital expenses and healthcare service prices continue to increase. Another common reason is age-band loading, where customers move into a higher pricing category as they get older. This can lead to a noticeably higher renewal premium, even when the customer has not made a claim.
Policybazaar.ae says the premium-lock option is designed to give residents more predictability. Instead of waiting for renewal to find out whether the policy has become more expensive, customers who choose the add-on can plan around a fixed insurance cost for several years.
The add-on comes at an additional cost. According to Policybazaar.ae, customers pay 7% of the base plan premium annually to activate the premium-lock benefit. For example, if the base annual premium is AED 3,500, the add-on would cost AED 245 per year, keeping the total annual cost fixed at AED 3,745 during the lock period, provided the policy conditions are met.
The benefit is aimed at adults who want longer-term cost certainty, especially families and individuals concerned about renewal increases. However, it is not available to everyone. Policybazaar.ae states that the rider is not available for customers above the age of 60 at enrolment, people who declare pre-existing medical conditions, or standalone child policies where there is no adult primary insured member.
The premium lock also has conditions that can end the benefit before the five-year period is complete. The lock may stop if the customer makes an inpatient hospitalisation claim, changes to another product line, upgrades to a higher category plan, or if certain regulatory changes affect mandatory coverage requirements. Some OPD claims, including maternity-related or oncology-related claims, may also affect the benefit.
Despite these limits, the launch reflects growing demand for more transparent and predictable insurance pricing in the UAE. Many residents face higher renewal costs even when they have used their policy responsibly, and this has made health insurance planning more difficult for households.
By fixing the premium for a defined period, the new add-on gives customers a clearer view of their future healthcare expenses. It also shows how digital insurance platforms in the UAE are trying to respond to one of the biggest frustrations in the market: unexpected price increases at renewal.
For eligible residents, the product may offer a practical way to reduce uncertainty around medical insurance costs. However, customers should still review the terms carefully before buying, especially the exclusions, claim-related conditions and the situations in which the premium lock may no longer apply.
