Originally Posted by lullabelle

It is tax free living but the set up costs for a family arriving from abroad can be mental. If you then lose your job after 6 months you can be totally buggered. I had a work colleague run - he had to. The company we worked for were late paying school fees (supposed to be up front but actually were coming every six months - that's a massive chunk) and shut down with a couple of weeks notice. Hs debts were a car loan and a housing advance as our housing was paid monthly, we were in Abu dhabi and back in early 2010 housing was expensive and not available in multiple cheques there. His final salary didn't cover and he absconded. He sent his family home on the first plane out after we got the call the company was to close.

I took advice from this board and bided my time about buying a car, taking out a loan. I managed to get a monthly rent through my company - a great apartment but they weren't telling everyone about them for some reason. And it was only for the first six months. By the time they closed the company I'd moved to Dubai and had a yearly rental hanging over my head. Initially they we only going to give us a month's money - i would have been shafted at that point as well. I remember reading the email and feeling sick... After 8 months, no school fees (women - no matter how senior - got theirs YEARLY) and paying out for four months rent in advance I didn't have a nice wedge in a bank account to get me home or get me out of trouble. In the end we got a payout which enabled me to have time to find another job - but it could have gone spectaculary wrong.

I get the bit about people not acting like twats and running up huge debts, but the guy above is not the only one I know who got into trouble and none of them were fur coat nae knickers types. just after I left some friends had to move in with another family after both lost their jobs with no notice and no payout. I found life for a family really damn expensive and even in the good times I wasn't saving as much as I thought I would have when I naively did Rose tinted calculations on the back of a napkin on a smelly commuter train into London...

I feel I was lucky, I had a decent but mental time in the UAE, worked for
some dreadful companies and managed to end up hating my job for the first time in my life... But i left without throttling anyone, or having huge debts. I admit though that if I was in a similar situation to my work colleague I would have run too.

There are people in jail who didn't get there by being arses but by their companies being lying, cheating, immoral twunts. That's pretty disgusting.

I'm not trying to defend the credit card cash cows but there is a dark side to debt in Dubai.

Originally Posted by jackthehat

Great Post!

Originally Posted by philmorris5

Hi Everyone,

Need a little advice if its out there, I have been back from Dubai for 2 years and have recieved a letter from a solicitor in the UK representing NBD bank chasing a credit card balance.

Has anyone else had this expereince and is there any way of fighting it. I was there for the crash and like most other people lost my job and missed 2 payments on a personal loan. I found other employment and sorted the arrears imediatley and continued life as normal, except NBD would not lift the case they had put on me. Eventually I escaped into Oman but was caught trying to leave through Muscat airport and ended up doing 4 months in jail back in Dubai.
I am willing to make my self bankrupt before I pay them a penny - can anyone advise me on who I can talk to in order to fight this...?? Stressed and desparate...!!!

Phil

Originally Posted by jackthehat

Great Post!

Originally Posted by Bongoman2

Agreed, great post. As always when it comes to debt discussions on here, the "I'm alright Jacks", start to lay in the boots.

Originally Posted by Roys11

EMIRATES (ME) BANK

Apologies for placement but could not work out how to start a new thread (clearly I'm much more stupid than I thought)

HELP

Did anyone take out a credit card with Emirates (ME) bank in 2007 and if so do you still have a copy of the Terms and Conditions?

Many Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by Meow

Have you asked the bank for a copy?

There would have been several cards available from the bank at that time, so someone else's T&C may not be entirely applicable to you.

Is there something specific you want to query? I might be able to help.

Originally Posted by Roys11

Hi - Thanks for your reply.

I have asked the Bank and all they have provided me with is a direct print off from the website circa 2013 as Emirates NBD bank. They tell me they have always remained the same. Considering the difficulties of the last few years I would have thought terms have changed at least annually to deal with new laws and new problems. I had an Emirates ME Gold card that was essentially part of a...."take out a car loan and get a gold card as well gig"