Customer’s issue raised with bank

What’s the purpose of a clearance letter when the status is showing a write-off, a reader asks

I was holding three Mashreq credit cards and was offered a settlement by Mashreq of Dh20,000 to settle after I had lost my job. The bank did not even give me my credit shield, even after paying for the same for more than four years. I thereby paid the total amount of Dh20,000 to Mashreq as per their directive, but in the Credit Report the status is mentioned as “Write off”. Due to this, my credit rating has fallen and no bank is granting me loan, which is causing me a lot of problems as I need funds for my daughter’s further education.

After having paid off the amount and obtaining a clearance letter from the bank as well, I fail to understand as to why the status is showing as “Write-off”. I approached Mashreq to have this matter settled, but they have not been cooperative. I would appreciate if you could kindly help. From Mr Karl Rodrigues Sharjah

The management of Mashreq responds:

Thank you for raising Mr Karl Rodrigues complaint to us for our clarification. We reviewed his concerns in detail and as per our investigation Mr Karl was our credit card customer till last year. He was not regular on his credit card payments and due to non-payment for more than six months at a stretch, the credit cards were reported as write-off to Al Etihad Credit Bureau.

Mr Rodrigues was contacted by our Collections team for the settlement of his overdue in September 2016 as he had not met his financial obligations and purely on exceptional basis and compassionate grounds, he was offered a settlement of Dh20,000 against an outstanding of Dh46,747.48, also acknowledged through emails by Mr Rodrigues in his complaint.

The bank took a loss of Dh26,747.48 in this case and therefore the amount was rightly reported as “write-off” with Al Etihad Credit Bureau.

We had contacted Mr Rodrigues and advised him to pay the written-off amount of Dh26,747 in order to explore a change in his credit rating from a “write-off” to “arrangement/ settlement”, to which he refused. Therefore we were unable to make any changes in his credit rating. It will unfortunately remain as write-off.

We would like to also confirm that Mr Rodrigues did not submit to date the credit shield claim documents, which ideally need to be submitted to the insurance company within 60 days from the date of event in case of job loss. Moreover, our records indicate that Mr Rodrigues is self-employed and hence the job loss cover does not apply to him. The benefits of credit shield also include medical expenses in case of hospitalisation, death or disablement.

We would like to thank Gulf News in serving our community and for bringing customer’s issues to our notice.

Mr Rodrigues responds:

Mashreq has been doing this with me for a very long time. They were the ones who gave me the settlement offer and not once did they tell me that the amount, which is not paid will be reported in the Credit Bureau. If this was done in the beginning I would have reviewed the situation and the consequences. If that was the case how did they issue me a clearance letter?

Unless they do not know what the term settled really means. This was an amicable settlement done with the bank so why this twist in their dealings? With regard to the credit shield, does having a partner’s visa indicate that I am selfemployed as they claim, hence they did not approve of the credit shield. I know of cases where the visa does not state your exact job profile. I had approached them with the same at the earliest with my claim. Nowhere in their contract given to me stated the reason for their claim. I even asked them to send me the documents I had signed.

I had even approached them before I asked for help from Gulf News if I could settle this amount for which they blankly refused stating that the account had been closed and that nothing can be done.

On a lighter note, why will I need an insurance when I am dead? Is this the way Mashreq deals with their clients or it is just one of their unjust dealings to put a person into trouble fully well knowing the consequences that will be faced by the client?

Hoping for your assistance.

Mashreq responds:

Thank you again for sharing Mr Rodrigues’ response. I did review the case once again with our Collection’s Head only to divulge that Mr Rodrigues was offered a settlement figure as a gesture, since he had lost his job.

If the cards were not closed in our books, they would continue to attract penalties and interest on monthly basis and Mr Rodrigues was in distress, finding it difficult to cope with his debts at that point. Mr Rodrigues in one of his emails humbly requested for the same and we granted.

There is no conflict to the fact that Mr Rodrigues owes the bank monies that were written-off. Hence we regret to inform that his status remains unchanged in the bureau as of now. If he is still willing to repay the overdue, accrued interest and penalties to date, we can arrange his meeting with our Collections manager.

As for the insurance claim, I had previously stated that Mr Rodrigues would not qualify for “job loss” claim if he is selfemployed. Mr Rodrigues, however, has not even submitted the credit shield insurance claim document to date. Despite the delay, we welcome Mr Rodrigues to submit his “job-loss” credit shield claim with the required documents and we shall approach the insurance company to exceptionally review his claim.

We do regret the inconvenience Mr Rodrigues has faced but unfortunately his complaint is unjustifiable.

Thank you once again Gulf News, to be the much appreciated intermediator as always.

(Process initiation: June 4. Response from organisation: June 4. Process completion: June 18.)

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