UAE debt stories: stress of Dh260,000 owed affecting pregnant woman’s health

In the third story of a three-part series on rising personal debt levels, we talk to Joyce Santos, who is due to give birth in February and is struggling to repay liabilities totalling Dh260,000.

Joyce Santos has struggled after her husband lost his job. Silvia Razgova / The National

Like many heavily pregnant women, Joyce Santos struggles to get a good night’s sleep. However, the usual aches and pains of late pregnancy are the least of her worries.

Ms Santos, who is due to give birth in February, is more than Dh260,000 in debt and the stress of trying to service her repayments to five banks and five private lenders on her Dh6,583 salary is taking a heavy toll on her health.

“Two weeks back I was really in a bad situation. I am so stressed I am feeling contractions,” says Ms Santos, 32, who asked for her name to be changed.

Ms Santos is one of many readers who has contacted The National about their financial situation in recent months. It follows a series of articles we have run since the summer on escalating personal debt levels in the UAE.

Just two years ago it was all very different for Ms Santos. She was debt-free, having paid off a Dh35,000 loan she took to bring her son and husband to the UAE from the Philippines.

“After closing it we didn’t have any credit cards at that time. We decided to take a car loan [from ADIB] for Dh1,700 a month. It was Dh85,000 for four or five years. But then again my husband had some difficulties with his job. He was laid off, so again after taking a car loan with ADIB I had to again be the breadwinner,” she says.

ADIB declined to comment.

“I had to pay for the house, everything. For our living, for the school, for our son. Everything accumulated and I had to take another [Dh60,000] loan from Dunia just to pay for the previous loan.”

A Dunia spokeswoman, Mariam Elsamny, says: “We are unable to discuss any specific customer matters with third parties or confirm whether any individual is a customer or not. However, we only extend a credit facility to a customer based on our credit assessment in line with UAE Central Bank regulations and guidelines. Furthermore, the facilities rendered to our customers are periodically reviewed at regular intervals to ensure they remain ‘affordable’ based on the customers’ repayment history and current financial situation.”

After a crisis in the Philippines, Ms Santos took another loan from Dubai First with the intention of paying off the first two, but she received only Dh30,000, which now stands at Dh20,000, so she took out a fourth from Banque Misr, which currently stands at Dh38,000. She has a fifth loan from ADCB, which stands at Dh35,000. In total she owes five banks Dh170,000.

The banks declined to comment on the case.

Ms Santos applied to SimplyLife, which is affiliated with ADCB, to buy out the Dunia and Banque Misr loans but was rejected on the basis of having had two bounced cheques.

“I had two bounced cheques because we are renting right now, so there was a miscommunication between our landlord and us. I was able to give them the cash before the due date but the administrative assistant wasn’t able to take out the cheque from the bank. So it was taken out and there were no funds,” says Ms Santos.

“I have also accumulated right now credits from other friends and private lenders. I started off with Dh20,000. It was with five different individuals. Now all in all when I calculated it last week I have to pay almost Dh90,000. Most of them have 10 per cent interest rates,” she says.

Ms Santos has requested that ADIB, Banque Misr and Dunia all freeze the amount she owes them and agree to not file a police case until she can get six months’ clear bank statements to reapply to SimplyLife to pay off the loans and lower her monthly instalments.

“My husband wasn’t able to get another job; I am the one paying for everything. Not to mention my condition right now. I am in my seventh month of pregnancy.”

And despite having health insurance, she is also having to find the money for her prenatal check-ups.

“Because of my situation in my first trimester I had bleeding, so two or three times I was admitted in the hospital just to rest and take medication, so the limit of my insurance was reached,” says Ms Santos. “My OB told me to take a full bed rest until I reach a certain month.”

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