International Medical Group boosts Dubai/UAE presence
International Medical Group, a privately-held international private medical insurance business based in Indianapolis, Indiana, has opened an office in Dubai, as it looks to expand its international footprint into the UAE and wider Gulf region.
The insurer has been active in the region since 2007, working with a UAE-licensed primary insurance company to distribute its products, but IMG had no physical presence until it recently obtained a UAE insurance consultancy licence. For the past two years, IMG has worked with RAK Insurance, a relationship that IMG says will continue.
“The insurance consultancy licence allows us to have a local presence in Dubai…and promote the IMG brand in the local market,” a company spokesperson said.
In Dubai, IMG is doing business going forward as IMG Insurance Consultancy LLC, and is, IMG says, one of few iPMI companies in the UAE to have obtained a consultancy license with LLC status.
The new IMG offices are is located in downtown Dubai in the Boulevard Plaza Tower 2 on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, near the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall. They were chosen specifically to be close to the business district of Dubai, the IMG spokesperson noted.
“The offices were secured to comply with the local Economic Department’s licence regulation, and allow us to demonstrate that we have a fixed onshore location within the UAE.”
‘Strengthened commitment’
Paul Gordon (pictured left), who is heading up the operation as general manager, said the licence has “strengthened” IMG’s commitment to the UAE.
With it, “we can better serve our international customers and those living and working in the UAE, across all seven emirates”, he said.
The company acknowledges that the UAE’s population is an “eclectic mix of nationals and expatriates from across the globe”, and that for this reason, it was designing its offering to accommodate this diversity, with “a full line of international medical insurance products and associated services”.
It is also launching what it calls the “IMG Member Care Programme”, which will give IMG plan members access to such facilities as an “Ask A Doctor” online chat service; “Call A Doctor” telephone service; IMG “Preferred Dental Network” and second opinion services.
As reported, IMG earlier this year announced that it had acquired a West Sussex, UK-based international insurer, À La Carte Healthcare Ltd, otherwise known as ALC Health. At the time, ALC Health was described as having clients in more than 140 countries, and offices in Marbella and Gibraltar, with an outpost in Hong Kong on the drawing board.
