Egyptian insurance law changed on 11 July 2024. Law No. 155 of 2024 promulgating the Unified Insurance Law was published in the Official Gazette on 10 July 2024 and took effect the next day. It replaced the Insurance Supervision and Control Law No. 10 of 1981 and the compulsory motor law, and it moved the insurance contract rules out of the Civil Code. The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) now licenses and supervises the sector, and Resolution No. 77 of 2025 adds detailed rules on disclosure, claims and complaints. This article explains what policyholders, claimants and businesses should check.
The Unified Insurance Law and its commencement (issuing Law Articles 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8)
Law No. 155 of 2024 was issued on 9 July 2024 and published in Official Gazette issue 27 bis (c) on 10 July 2024. Article 8 of the issuing law makes it effective from the day after publication, so 11 July 2024. Article 1 gives the FRA exclusive licensing and supervision. Article 2 repeals Law No. 54 of 1975, Law No. 10 of 1981, Law No. 72 of 2007 and Articles 747 to 771 of the Civil Code, so the contract rules now sit in the Unified Law itself.
Article 6 of the issuing law requires insurers to be Egyptian joint stock companies. Under Article 7 existing companies had one year to comply, extendable by the FRA board up to three years from commencement. FRA Resolution No. 102 of 2025 granted one further year from 11 July 2025. We have not been able to verify any later extension, and the outer limit in Article 7 is 10 July 2027. Our standing advice is to confirm the insurer's current license position with the FRA before relying on a policy.
Who may sell insurance in Egypt (Articles 3, 152, 157, 206, 215 and 216)
Article 152 requires an FRA license for insurance business, and Article 3 sets out the structure of the sector. Under Article 206, cover on property located in Egypt or on liabilities arising in Egypt may be bought directly only from licensed companies, unless the FRA authorizes otherwise. Article 157 requires the FRA to decide a license application within thirty days. A contract made before licensing is void, but the insured may rely on it unless the insured acted in bad faith.
The criminal exposure is real. Article 215 punishes unlicensed insurance activity with imprisonment and a fine of EGP 50,000 to 500,000, or the gain made if higher, or either penalty. Article 216 fines acting as a representative or intermediary for an insurer without a license, between the same amounts. For a buyer, the practical point is simple: check that the insurer, the broker and the product are licensed before paying, because a policy sold outside the license perimeter is the first place a dispute will start.
Contract rules now in the Unified Law (Articles 4 to 8)
Article 4 requires an insurable interest, so a policy on an asset or life without one does not hold. Article 5 makes certain clauses void. These include forfeiture for breach of the law unless the breach is a felony, an intentional misdemeanor or fraud, forfeiture for late notice where the delay had an excuse and caused no material change, nullity or forfeiture conditions that are not printed prominently, and arbitrary clauses.
Article 6 sets a three-year limitation period for claims arising from the insurance contract, with exceptions where the insured concealed material facts and for the day the concerned parties learned of the event. Article 7 makes the chapter mandatory in favor of the insured or beneficiary, and Article 8 caps indemnity at the sum insured. We diarize the three-year date as soon as an event is reported. When we review a policy we read Article 5 alongside the printed conditions, because a forfeiture clause that is not prominent fails, and we record the date on which each notice was sent.
Fire and property insurance (Articles 25 to 30)
Article 25 defines the scope of fire cover, including items lost during a fire. Article 26 deals with inherent defect, and Article 27 covers loss caused by the insured's non-intentional fault and by force majeure, while intentional or fraudulent loss is excluded. Under Article 28 the insurer answers for damage caused by persons for whom the insured is responsible, whatever the type or extent of their fault, unless the insured contributed to the damage, so the wording on employees, tenants and contractors matters.
Article 29 protects pledge and mortgage rights, requires creditor consent in the stated cases and addresses attachment of the proceeds. Article 30 subrogates the insurer, to the extent of the compensation it paid, to the insured's claims against the person who caused the damage, unless that person is a relative or in-law of the insured living with him, or a person for whom the insured is responsible. A claim file must therefore keep every recourse intact and avoid any release signed with a third party.
Life insurance (Articles 13 to 24)
Article 13 makes the life sum due without proof of damage. Article 14 deals with suicide: the insurer is released but pays the share of the mathematical reserve, cover is full if the insured was mentally ill, and a clause covering voluntary suicide is valid only after two years from the contract. Article 15 addresses intentional killing, and Article 16 deals with beneficiaries.
Article 17 allows withdrawal by written notice. Article 20 allows surrender after at least three annual premiums, and Article 21 requires the reduction and surrender terms to appear in the policy. Article 22 addresses misstatement of age, Article 23 excludes subrogation in life cover, and Article 24 requires the prior written consent of the person whose life is insured when cover is taken on another's life.
Compulsory motor insurance (Articles 40 to 61 and 219)
Article 40 covers death, bodily injury causing disability and third-party property damage, but not damage to the insured vehicle. Article 41 accepts Arab unified insurance cards. Article 42 requires the owner to insure when licensing or renewing, Article 43 channels the cover through the pool, and Article 45 runs it for the license period plus the renewal grace period. Article 47 sets EGP 100,000 for death or total permanent disability, with partial disability paid pro rata, and EGP 20,000 maximum for property damage. The board may raise the limits by up to 50 percent with the required approvals. The Egyptian Compulsory Insurance Pool states that the previous cap was EGP 40,000 under Law No. 72 of 2007.
Payment is due within thirty days of notice and documents, without a court judgment (Article 47). Under Article 48 a claimant whose loss exceeds the sum insured may sue the tortfeasor for the balance. Article 49 requires a special authenticated power of attorney for an agent, and Article 51 requires the insured to notify the pool within fifteen days. Article 52 deals with joint fault, Article 53 with death or total disability occurring within a year, and Article 54 allows combination with voluntary policies. Articles 55 and 56 govern recourse, and Article 61 lets the government fund pay for an unidentified vehicle, an uninsured or exempt vehicle and insurer insolvency. Article 219 fines breach of Article 42 EGP 10,000 to 50,000, breach of Article 51 EGP 1,000 to 5,000, and breach of Articles 43, 47 and 49 and others EGP 50,000 to one million.
Takaful, electronic policies and new compulsory covers (Articles 36, 37, 39, 193 to 197, 199 and 200)
Article 36 prevents takaful from being combined with other formulas in one product, and Articles 193 to 197 regulate takaful business. Article 37 introduces micro-insurance. Article 199 allows electronic standard policies, and Article 200 requires a licensed website with proper disclosure when insurance is sold online, so a buyer on a platform should look for the license and the full policy terms.
Article 39 lets the board propose new compulsory covers, which the Cabinet issues by decision, including professional liability as a licensing condition for certain professions. Businesses in regulated professions should check whether a decision now requires cover before their next license renewal.
Policyholder protection (Articles 178, 201, 204 and 205; FRA Resolution No. 77 of 2025, Articles 2 and 3)
Article 178 gives policyholders and beneficiaries a privilege over the funds allocated under Articles 174 and 175, not over the insurer's assets generally, ranking after the privilege in Article 1141(a) of the Civil Code. Article 201 lets the FRA take protective measures, Article 204 lets it cancel a license for persistent neglect of due claims or repeated unjustified disputes of serious claims, and Article 205 lets it stop unlicensed activity.
Resolution No. 77 of 2025 was published in Al-Waqa'i Al-Misriyya issue 139 (supplement) on 25 June 2025 and took effect the next day. Articles 2 and 3 require clear disclosure before sale, a ten-working-day cooling-off period with termination and refund without penalty if no insurance service was provided in that period (justified issuance costs, fixed and disclosed before signing, may be deducted), written consent for amendments, a pro-rata refund on cancellation where the policy is silent, an offer of the Egyptian arbitration center in the policy, and immediate delivery of the documents. Customer data must stay confidential.
Claims handling under Resolution No. 77 of 2025 (Article 8)
Under Article 8 the insured notifies and claims within ten working days of the event or of learning of it, unless the policy sets another period. Experts must file their final report within thirty days of the claim, unless circumstances require otherwise. The insurer must decide within one month of a complete file, and its decision must be written: acceptance, or partial or full rejection with reasons.
Where it pays, the insurer must explain how the settlement was calculated. We advise clients to send a complete file with a dated receipt, because the one-month clock runs from completeness. Notice given within ten working days also removes the easiest argument for a late-notice defense, although Article 5 of the Unified Law already restricts forfeiture where the delay had an excuse.
Complaints and grievances (Resolution No. 77 of 2025, Articles 14 and 33 to 36; Law, Article 214)
Every insurer must run a complaints unit, and the policy must carry a complaint clause (Article 34). The rules must provide a decision within ten working days, extendable (Article 33), and the complainant must be notified of the result of the examination within five working days of submitting the complaint, and faster in urgent cases (Article 35). Under Article 36 the complainant may object within ten working days and the insurer must give a final reply within ten working days. No fees are charged on complaints.
If the insurer's final reply is unsatisfactory, Article 14 of Resolution No. 77 of 2025 routes the dispute to the FRA's customer protection and dispute settlement committee, which decides within thirty days of a complete filing, and its decision becomes final once both parties accept it. Against an FRA administrative decision, Article 214 provides a grievance committee. The grievance is filed within thirty days of the decision or of the end of the period for issuing it, and the committee decides within thirty days of receiving the complete documents. Its decision is final and binding, and a suit is not admissible before the committee has been used and has decided. Filing the grievance suspends the legal periods for forfeiture, limitation or filing suit until the decision period ends. This applies to a grievance against an FRA decision, not to a complaint to the insurer. The fee is set by a decision of the FRA chairman and may not exceed EGP 20,000. It is refunded within thirty days at most of a decision cancelling the FRA decision.
Jurisdiction, arbitration and penalties (issuing Law Article 4; Articles 6 and 215 to 221)
Article 4 of the issuing law gives the economic courts jurisdiction, except for matters reserved to the Council of State. Parties may agree voluntary arbitration through the Egyptian arbitration center, and Resolution No. 77 requires insurers to offer it. The three-year period in Article 6 still runs while a complaint is pending, as far as we have found, so a plain complaint should not be assumed to preserve the suit deadline.
Penalties run through Articles 215 to 221. Article 216 fines unlicensed representation, Article 217 imposes fines of EGP one to two million for breach of secrecy, and Article 220 sets a minimum of two years' imprisonment and a fine, or either penalty, for gaining a personal benefit (for oneself, a spouse or children) through deliberately false facts in reports, a deliberate or gross breach of professional rules, or deliberate omission of material facts. The same acts committed through negligence fall under a separate, lighter paragraph. These provisions matter in fraud-sensitive claims, where a false statement can turn a civil dispute into a criminal one.
What we review in an Egyptian insurance policy, renewal or claim
We begin with the insurer's license under Articles 152 and 206 and the compliance position under Article 7 of the issuing law. We read the policy against Articles 4 to 8, check the complaint and arbitration clauses required by Resolution No. 77, and look for prominence of forfeiture wording. On a claim we build the chronology, diarize the ten-working-day notice, the one-month decision period and the three-year limit, and choose between the insurer's complaints unit, the FRA, arbitration and the economic court.
See also: our Egypt company formation guide and our Egypt labor law guide, plus our commercial and corporate practice.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy cover for Egyptian property from an unlicensed foreign insurer?
Not safely. Article 206 of Law No. 155 of 2024 allows direct cover on Egyptian property or liabilities only from licensed companies unless the FRA authorizes otherwise, Article 215 punishes unlicensed insurance activity with imprisonment and a fine, and Article 216 fines unlicensed representation.
How long do I have to sue the insurer?
Three years under Article 6, with exceptions for concealment and for the day the concerned parties learned of the event. Article 7 makes the rule mandatory in favor of the insured, so the period cannot be shortened by the policy.
How much does compulsory motor insurance pay?
Under Article 47, EGP 100,000 for death or total permanent disability, pro rata for partial disability, and up to EGP 20,000 for third-party property damage, paid within thirty days of notice and documents without a court judgment.
Is a late-notice clause enforceable?
Not if the delay had an excuse and caused no material change. Article 5 voids forfeiture for late notice in that case, and Resolution No. 77 sets ten working days for notice unless the policy states another period.
Can I cancel a new policy?
Yes, within the ten-working-day cooling-off period in Resolution No. 77 of 2025, with termination and refund without penalty if no insurance service was provided in that period. The insurer may deduct justified issuance costs that were fixed and disclosed before you signed. After that, a pro-rata refund applies where the policy does not set terms.
How long does the insurer have to decide my claim?
One month from a complete file under Article 8 of Resolution No. 77, with a written decision that gives reasons for any rejection.
Where do I complain if the insurer refuses or delays?
First to the insurer's complaints unit, then to the FRA's customer protection and dispute settlement committee under Article 14 of Resolution No. 77 of 2025, which decides within thirty days of a complete filing.
Do you advise on insurance disputes and policy review in Egypt?
Yes. We review policies, advise on claims and limitation dates, act in FRA complaints and prepare arbitration and economic court proceedings. Please reach us through our contact page to discuss your situation.