Insured expats

Where should Expats buy

Life insurance:

UAE vs. Philippines (Premium to coverage comparison)

One of the criteria affecting life insurance premium is the country risk that is being assumed by the insurance company. Several indicators such as crime rate, quality of healthcare system, and the catastrophe exposure among others are used to assess a country’s overall risk to these companies, which in turn, affects the cost of insurance and your policy premium. 

According to a study conducted by Standard and Poor’s Rating Services in 2013, S&P's Insurance Industry And Country Risk Assessments Offer A Global View Of The Forces Shaping Insurance Markets, the overall risks are much lower in developed than in emerging markets. This means that insurance companies operating in countries such as the US, UK, UAE, Australia, France, Germany, Singapore, and Japan among others, face much lower risks of providing insurance coverage than in countries belonging to the emerging markets.


As we now know, premiums are affected by factors like age, gender, lifestyle, and health history. The cost of insurance increase as your risk of dying increases. Countries such as the Philippines has a high frequency of natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and flooding which is factored in by insurance companies making their premiums relatively much higher.


To get an idea of how much the price differs from one country to another, please refer to the table below.

Variables such as policyholder profile, payment terms, total premium cost, and death benefits vary, but as you will see later on, this won’t matter much since what we are comparing here is the relative cost of death benefit per peso spent on premiums.

The death coverage amount that you can buy per peso is highlighted in green. This indicates how much death coverage can 1 peso give you. Based on the result, insurance companies in the UAE have more death benefit per peso spent on premiums. This means the price of insurance policies in the Philippines is relatively higher. Even a 32-year-old smoker gets better insurance coverage than a 6-year-old kid or a 30 to 34-year-old non-smoker from the Philippines. 

This simply demonstrates that insurance companies indeed factor in country risks when writing policies. If you live in a high-risk country, I'm not saying that you shouldn’t buy your policy there, you should still get the protection you need for your family and your future. I’m only saying this to spread awareness so that you can plan accordingly and get the policy that fits you perfectly without being underinsured due to high insurance costs.

On the other hand, for expats working in more developed countries, you should consider buying your policy where you’ll get the best bang for your buck, especially if you’re from a country exposed to high risks for insurance companies. Personal finance may be a little daunting at first but with due diligence, you’ll be in control of your life and your future. 

Learn the ins and outs of life insurance before getting your policy CLICK HERE