Case four: ‘My husband had no job, I was pregnant and we owed Dh440,000’

AK, a British mother of two young children, was pregnant with her third child when she contacted the paper in July. Her husband lost his job in the corporate wellness sector in Dubai in 2016, plunging the family into crisis. While he was earning Dh7,000 part-time, she earned Dh12,600 in the retail sector.

However, they owed Dh440,000 on four loans and five credit cards, with two banks threatening police cases over non-payment.

At the time their monthly expenses included Dh100,000 a year for rent and Dh2,500 for their car and Dh600 for phone bills per month. The Dubai resident was most worried about the court fines and the pending police cases.

The situation now:

AK says the situation is “the same if not worse as a civil case [which comes direct from the accuser rather than via police] was filed against me during my eighth month of pregnancy”. They still owe the same amount of money, although a few of the banks have given them more time to repay their debts.

While their jobs and salaries are the same, they did take on the advice to move into a smaller home. AK says they have not managed to stay on top of their repayments but they have avoided taking on any more loan.

She says The Debt Panel’s advice did not teach her much as “no bank was willing to give me a consolidation loan”. She adds that she is better at budgeting now, as they are “not spending on anything additional”.