I have a personal loan and four credit cards with two different banks. Since April, my salary of Dh5,305 has been reduced by 50 per cent because of the pandemic and I am no longer able to pay my liabilities.
My salary is transferred to my bank and it automatically deducts my personal loan repayment of Dh2,295, which left me with just Dh357.50 to live on and pay my other debts after my salary was reduced.
Thankfully, my bank recently approved a payment holiday on my personal loan and my instalments resume again in October. This is a relief, but I still don’t have enough to pay the remainder of my liabilities, send money home to my family and pay for my daily expenses.
My debts are:
- Personal loan: Dh70,126 (Dh2,295 monthly instalment)
- Credit card 1: Dh4,759.53 (Dh1,336.19 minimum payment)
- Credit card 2: Dh3,747.93 (Dh638.80 minimum payment)
- Credit card 3: Dh6,339.59 (Dh487 minimum payment)
- Credit card 4: Dh21,918.92 (Dh 937.67 minimum payment)
I have also requested the second bank to defer my payments for my other two credit cards, which I have not been able to make any payments towards since my salary was reduced in April.
They have rejected my request on the grounds that credit cards are not eligible for a payment holiday as they say it only applies to personal loans, home loans and car loans. I am now being harassed by their collections team and they are threatening to lodge a legal case against me.
I want to resume my monthly payments and do not want to run away from my liabilities, but I am unable to do so at the moment. I am also struggling to send money home to my family.
Is there a company or a bank that would offer me a debt consolidation for all my liabilities so I can reduce my monthly payments and continue supporting my family in the Philippines? GP, Dubai
Debt panellist 1: Phillip King, head of retail banking at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Over the past few months, the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to present challenges to the livelihood of individuals and families. Understandably, having your income reduced by 50 per cent must have been be a great financial setback, however, we commend your sense of accountability and commitment in meeting your financial obligations.
A number of banks offer consolidation loans so it may be worthwhile researching the best one for you and your personal circumstances.
Firstly, we advise you to proactively communicate your situation with your lenders. Provide the bank with proof of your salary reduction and emphasise that this has placed you in a very difficult situation, leaving you with no means to pay for basic necessities.
It would also be worthwhile to reiterate, in writing, that you intend to diligently meet your repayments and that you remain fully committed to clearing the outstanding dues.
It is in the bank's interest to mitigate any risks of default, so they may be more forthcoming in working out new repayment terms. Therefore, I urge you to request your bank for a debt restructuring or consolidation plan that will enable you to aggregate all your existing liabilities into a new loan with a longer tenure and lower financing rates.
This will help in substantially reducing your monthly instalment payments and allow you to service the loan with your lower salary.
Alongside liaising with your lenders, there is no better time than now to extensively review your budget and rethink your expenditures. Avoid spending any further on your cards and consider contacting any friends or family for temporary support as you weather these challenges and regain control over your situation.
It may also be helpful to explore new job opportunities that will allow you to meet your repayments every month. Understandably, this may be a difficult time to secure a new permanent job.
Debt panellist 2: Ambareen Musa, founder and chief executive of Souqalmal.com
Managing your financial commitments with just half of your regular income is going to be incredibly difficult. Unfortunately, there are many other UAE residents facing the same predicament during these challenging times. Qualifying for a payment holiday is going to be very helpful, but you will need some more support from your banks to manage your finances.
You must approach your credit card providers and request them to restructure your credit card debt. This can be done by converting your outstanding credit card balance into a fixed-interest, fixed-tenure loan. However, you must also request for this repayment arrangement to be brought into force once your original salary is reinstated.
This type of restructuring will help plug the financial drain being caused by heavy credit card interest rates and penalty fees, especially now that you're unable to even keep up with your minimum monthly payments. Approach the banks armed with proof of your reduced salary and current debt obligations.
Another option is to approach your primary lender to consolidate your personal loan with all the other credit card debt. Ideally, this would help reduce your interest payments and make the combined debt a lot more manageable. However, this may be a long shot since the bank would be taking a lot more risk by offering you this facility.
You should also look into your own financial resources to see if you can liquidate some savings or assets back home to relieve yourself of some of this financial stress. If you do have some readily accessible savings or some financial aid from your family and close relatives, you could use these funds to settle and close some of your credit card debts.
Alongside liaising with your lenders, there is no better time than now to extensively review your budget and rethink your expenditures.
Further, you could consider taking on some additional freelance or part-time work opportunities to supplement your current income, and free up some more cash to meet your debt repayments.
If all else fails, you could consider getting some pro bono legal help. The Philippine Consulate in Dubai and the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi both run free-of-charge legal aid clinics every month, where lawyers offer free counseling for Filipino expats dealing with various legal issues in the UAE, including debt-related matters.
You could also seek guidance on the financial insolvency option under the UAE's new laws, and whether this legal route is a sound option for you or not.
Debt panellist 3: Stuart Ritchie, chartered financial planner at AES International
You have done the best thing possible in requesting a payment holiday for your personal loan. This allows you to use the money you’ve freed up to pay your living expenses for the next few months.
Based on your current minimum payments, however, even your full salary would not be able to cover these. A consolidation loan, therefore, will be the greatest help as it will consolidate all you owe into one affordable payment.
A number of banks offer consolidation loans so it may be worthwhile researching the best one for you and your personal circumstances.
Following this, take time to address your underlying spending issues. Based on your salary, you are struggling to afford all the repayments, send money home and cover your everyday expenses. See where you can cut back on your spending in order to alleviate some of the financial pressure you’re feeling right now.
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Mental%20health%20support%20in%20the%20UAE
%3Cp%3E%E2%97%8F%20Estijaba%20helpline%3A%208001717%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Ministry%20of%20Health%20and%20Prevention%20hotline%3A%20045192519%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Mental%20health%20support%20line%3A%20800%204673%20(Hope)%3Cbr%3EMore%20information%20at%20hope.hw.gov.ae%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
