Cheques and Balances

Apologies for not posting more sooner but I have gotten a great response from my last post in which I asked if you had any questions about living and working in Qatar.  I have answered a fair few and I’d encourage reading the comments at the end of many of my posts as there’s lots of additional information to be found there.  Having said that though, if you’ve still got more questions that are unanswered or any topics you’d like me to discuss, please don’t hesitate to say so.

Anyway, Qatar’s summer is well and truly upon us now, I’ve given up driving with just my car windows open and have succumbed to air conditioning; daytime highs regularly hit the low to mid 40s.  The beginning of summer also means that my lease is coming up for renewal next month and I’m going to sign on for another year.  I’ve been very lucky in that respect as I found an apartment I really like, with great facilities, in an area not too far from work and a lovely landlord to top it all off.

Signing my lease for another year means handing over 12 post-dated cheques to my landlord, which he will cash when the appropriate time comes (the 1st of the month in this case).  This is the norm when it comes to rental agreements here and cheques are the gold standard in Qatar, you can get sent to jail if you write a cheque and it bounces.  Plus, my current account doesn’t have an overdraft, no one’s does.

Back in the UK I did nearly all of my banking on-line, I can’t tell you the last time I wrote a UK cheque for anything.  All of my bills and major payments were mostly done by direct debit and for everything else I either paid with one-off transfers or by card over the phone.  In Qatar, I’ve written more cheques in the past 2 years than I think I wrote in 10+ years of living in London.  As well as my rent, my bills are paid by cheque to the bank that the utility account is with.  Luckily my salary is paid by monthly direct debit as our finance manager specifically chose a bank in Qatar with internet capabilities…mostly because it’s less hassle.   Speaking of which, internet banking still leaves a lot to be desired, this is just the way things are here.  When all else has failed (and unfortunately, I’ve had a few mishaps concerning my account) the only option has been to go into a branch and speak to someone face to face; at least then the problem seems to get solved.