Cars are stranded on a flooded avenue in Dubai following heavy rains on April 18, 2024.
Giuseppe Cacace | AFP | Getty Images
The United Arab Emirates’ central bank despatched a directive to the nation’s lenders and insurers approving the deferring of loan repayments for six months, as residents and companies reel from historic floods that paralyzed the usually dry desert emirate.
“The Central Bank today issued a notice to all banks and insurance companies to allow the deferral of repayment of instalments of personal and car loans for customers affected by the repercussions of the weather condition for a period of six months,” the bank mentioned in a Monday assertion.
“The deferral shall be without imposing additional fees, interest or profits, or otherwise increase the principal amount of the loan for the deferral of the repayment of installments.”
The discover will come as a reduction to the numerous UAE residents who suffered losses and damages in the course of the record-breaking storm. Roughly a yr’s price of rain pummeled the Gulf nation in a span of simply 12 hours between April 16 and 17, destroying companies, vehicles and different property.
A person steers his canoe on a flooded avenue in Dubai following heavy rains on April 18, 2024. Dubai’s big highways had been clogged by flooding and its main airport was in chaos because the Middle East monetary heart remained gridlocked on April 18, a day after the heaviest rains on document.
Giuseppe Cacace | Afp | Getty Images
Hundreds of vehicles had been left deserted on UAE roads as drivers escaped flooded autos whose engines had died. One condominium constructing in Dubai has tilted over due to structural damage from the storm, and has been absolutely evacuated as a result of it’s in peril of collapsing.
Some components of the UAE noticed over 100 mm of rain between Tuesday and Wednesday — a 75-year document for the reason that nation began recording rainfall, in accordance to the nation’s National Centre of Meteorology. The authorities on Tuesday shuttered places of work, faculty and banks, because the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Authority warned residents to keep dwelling and park autos in elevated spots away from flood-prone areas.
The central bank additionally confirmed that houses and autos broken by the flooding “are covered by insurance if there is an insurance policy against loss and damage or what is normally referred to as “complete insurance coverage,” and that “the insurance coverage firms shall be thought of accountable for indemnification.”
“The Central Bank urges the general public to fastidiously learn and comprehend the insurance coverage coverage to defend their insurance coverage rights,” it added, encouraging residents to contact the government’s financial and insurance ombudsman, SANADAK, if they had any complaints or disputes with their insurance firm.
