UAE: Heirs can claim blood money and compensation after death

Question: Our father was killed after being hit by a vehicle while crossing the road. The driver was under the influence of alcohol and was found guilty in a criminal trial. We demanded diya (blood money) and compensation from the driver’s insurance company. The insurance company refused to pay compensation on the grounds that it is not permissible to combine blood money and compensation. Is this true?

Answer: The insurance company is obligated to pay blood money and to compensate the heirs for any material and moral damages they suffered as a result of the death of the deceased because the prohibition mentioned in Article 299 of the Civil Transaction Law is related to the deceased for the harm he inflicted upon himself.

Article 299 states that compensation shall be payable for any harm caused to a person, provided that in cases in which diya, or arsh (Sharia damages for personal injury not resulting in death) are payable, they shall not be payable in addition to such compensation unless the parties agree to the contrary.

It is settled in Civil Cassation No. 7/2023, dated 23/3/2023, that there is nothing to prevent the heirs of a deceased person from claiming compensation for the material or moral damages they suffered as a result of the death, in addition to their right to collect the legal blood money due to them by law, which was awarded against the person responsible for the harmful act that caused the death. This is because the prohibition on combining blood money with compensation, stipulated in Article 299/2 of the Civil Transactions Law, is limited to compensation due to the deceased for the harm inflicted upon himself.

Compensation due to the heirs personally remains governed by the provisions of Articles 282, 292, and 293 of the same law, which conclude that any harm done to another shall render the actor liable.