GCC Insurance Daily
The day's insurance news across the GCC: regulation, governance, AI in insurance, and people moves. Curated, attributed, and linked to the source.
Top story
The UAE takaful operator SALAMA has appointed Humaid Mohammad Obaid Alqutami as chairman, succeeding Essa Ali Bin Salem Alzaabi, with veteran Fareed Lutfi as vice-chairman. Lutfi's three decades across the Emirates Insurance Federation and Gulf Insurance Federation give the board a well-connected industry hand at a time when smaller UAE takaful players face consolidation pressure.
Listed insurers across the GCC reported first-quarter revenue of about 10.75bn dollars, up 13.6% year on year, with combined net profit rising 14.7% to roughly 714m dollars. Saudi Arabia and the UAE drove most of the top line, yet 29 regional firms remained loss-making, a reminder that scale, not sector growth, is what separates the winners here.
PureHealth's insurance arm Daman has been assigned an A1 insurance financial strength rating by Moody's, the highest the agency gives any insurer in the GCC across life, P&C and reinsurance. The mark reflects Daman's dominant position in Abu Dhabi's mandatory health cover and its state-linked ownership.
Oman's Financial Services Authority has streamlined motor claims under the unified vehicle policy, letting a damaged party claim directly from its own insurer, which then recovers from the at-fault carrier, with no deductible on the injured side unless optional cover applies. The revision adds settlement timeframes and a cash-compensation option in place of insurer-managed repair, shifting friction from policyholders onto insurers' claims operations and sharpening service competition among Omani motor writers.
Bahrain's Gulf Union Insurance and Reinsurance reported 2025 net profit of BD1,592,189, down about 9% year on year, even as insurance revenue grew 7.9% to BD9.5m. The board has proposed a 10% dividend on its preference shares, subject to AGM approval, holding a steady line as top-line growth outpaced the profit dip.
Each item is a short editorial summary with a link to the original source. Items marked Rumour · unverified are unconfirmed and should be treated with caution. Compiled automatically; corrections welcome.