As part of ‘The Debt Panel’, The National published an article about an Abu Dhabi nurse who is in between jobs, and is struggling to keep up with monthly installments on the AED 57,000 debt she owes.
I am a nurse and I am currently being hired by a new company. I took out a personal loan with a UAE bank when I was with my previous employer. The total outstanding balance is Dh46,000 and my monthly installment is Dh1,517. I have always been careful about paying on time and using my credit card as well. However, I have had a few months of unemployment between two jobs. While at first I was able to pay off my loan, and meet the monthly credit card bill, unfortunately in the fifth month of unemployment I was not able to pay my debts. My credit card now has an outstanding balance of Dh11,000. I am now approaching my sixth month of unemployment and the bills are piling up and I have no one to borrow from. I resigned from my previous company because they were downsizing and since I had another company to transfer to, I preferred not to be terminated. I have approached the bank’s collections department about my situation. I asked if I could resume payment when I’m working and they told me they can’t do anything about it. The collections department started calling my friend and informed her they’d file a police case against me even though I’d spoken to one of the bank’s agents a week before. The delay in my employment is because my new employer has not yet issued a visa and they cannot assure me of my commencement date. How can I arrange anything with the bank to prevent further worsening of my case? I have no intention of running away from my debts but I need more time.
Here is what Ambareen Musa, one of the debt panelists and Founder & CEO of Souqalmal.com, had to say.
Paying the bills and sustaining yourself financially while being unemployed is no easy task, and having debt on top of that can make it a very stressful time to cope with.
Create a survival budget with nothing but the essentials, and then make debt repayment a priority, especially high-interest debt that is draining your savings in interest payments. In your case, the outstanding balance of Dh11,000 on your credit card would have already started accumulating heavy interest.
For full article go to The National.
