Case three: Former Dubai executive struggled to repay a Dh380,000 loan following job loss

The compliance director, MF, contacted us in May this year because he had an outstanding loan of Dh380,000. He left the UAE in April 2017 after losing his job and had asked the bank to reschedule the monthly loan payments as his salary in Europe was much lower. The bank’s collection officer agreed to new payments after a drawn-out negotiation, and promised no case case would be filed with the police. However, the officer later retracted his statements leaving MF with a police case and no agreement on his debt.

The situation now:

MF says the situation is “still complex and not resolved” and there is still a police case against him. However, he is now making regular monthly payments of about €1,000 (Dh4,181).

“It’s an extremely painful experience,” he says.

“The people in the bank don’t seem to care about getting their money back. I called the bank so many times, and every time they come back with the same feedback and same people.”

MF also says some of the advice offered by the panellists was “optimistic”. He referred particularly to the advice of contacting more senior bank personnel to help resolve the case.

MF says there is “no way” to be able to get in touch with staff further up the ladder at his lender.

He did use the advice of getting in touch with a debt management agency that could negotiate on his behalf. However, this was not a favourable experience for him either.

“It was also painful,” he says. “I probably sent 10 reminders/emails, but these guys seem to have lots of business and they don’t need more.”