RIYADH – Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced that the cost of the comprehensive insurance for overseas Umrah performers has been reduced by 63 percent.
The cost has been slashed from SR235 to SR87 and is effective from January 10 this year. The insurance policy for Umrah is covered by oversees pilgrims coming for Umrah from outside Saudi Arabia.
The insurance covers emergency cases such as treatment, admission, hospitalization, pregnancy, emergency childbirth, emergency dental cases, traffic accident injuries, dialysis cases, and internal and external medical evacuation.
Moreover, it also covers general cases such as accidental permanent total disability, cases of death and death due to natural disasters, returning the body of the deceased to his country, and blood money issued by a court ruling. Besides, the insurance also caters for flight delay compensation and flight cancellation compensation.
The Ministry has stated that the insurance coverage period is 90 days, starting from the day of entering the Kingdom, and is only valid within Saudi Arabia.
The changes come as the Kingdom braces for restoring the pilgrims count to pre Covid levels implying that the total number of Hajj pilgrims this year would be around 2.3 million. Saudi Arabia hosts two of Islam’s holiest sites and welcomes millions of believers each year. The authorities have announced large scale changes for the pilgrims and the cost of Umrah insurance is amongst those changes.
