Doha Day Big Time

Finally, I get round to posting – sorry that it is lengthy. A close relative is seriously ill and it is not looking good. Doha Day : Once we knew we were moving, of course the priority was to sell the cars. DH’s one was advertised and seen, liked and agreed to be bought by the first person who looked at it. Next day around lunch time, I got that awful, dreaded phone call from him that he has had an accident. My first reaction was to establish that nobody was hurt, gave a deep sigh of relief and queried what damage was done. Answer : at a roundabout where he had priority. He had called the police and was waiting. Police took a long time and in the meantime, a police car driving past stopped, took the details, established that the other driver was in the wrong and advised both to come to the police station for paper work and accident report for repairs and insurance. Fortunately, the car being a beast of a 4x4, the impact from the other car (a sedan/saloon) was a dent which was noticeable but which could have been worse if the bodywork was flimsy, like mine. The other driver’s car suffered more damage although not serious compared to Doha standard – despite him being at fault, I was relieved that he was not hurt either. There were 2 passengers in his car, a man and a woman who did not seem to be together but had been sharing the ride. It looked like a case of illegal taxi in a private car – something that we all know is very common in Qatar and it has always surprised me that it is done so openly and the authority turns a blind eye. They discreetly left the scene after the police left. DH asked the guy to come with him to the police station. With limited English he said that he did not know where it was. At that stage, a small crowd of road workers had crossed over to see what was happening … Doha would not be the same without it! DH asked them to translate and felt that the limited English was not as limited as first thought. DH asked him to follow his car to the police station – he agreed and did follow the car until close to the police station where he chose to do a very quick and sleek, runner. DH went to the station, explained the situation (difficulty with language) and they checked their system to say that there was nothing on it. It would have been strange if it had been on so quickly. They telephoned the contact mobile for the offending car and there was no reply. They asked DH to come the next morning when one of their senior officers who speaks English, would be there. My first thought when I heard the story was that the other driver probably had no insurance, went on MOI’s website to check but its registration expires in June next year. Considering that we cannot renew registration without showing proof of insurance (I know from personal experience that the insurance has to be valid until the date of the next renewal), it was a bit puzzling. DH went in next morning to learn that the police has been able to contact the owner who was very cross to learn that the driver was using his car as a taxi, the driver had no insurance and he would have to pay for the repairs. Forgive me if I sound naïve but I think it is highly unlikely that it was the case (the owner not knowing) as I believe the offender would have been thrown into jail straight away – the police did disclose that the owner was Qatari. So the police’s approach was that DH should collect 3 estimates for repairs and they will opt for the cheapest one and the offender will have to pay from his own pocket … just what he needed when there were many other things to take care of. Since there was not to be any record of accident against the other car (on the system) but a report from the police for repair so that a garage could do it, our fully comprehensive cover was utterly useless. There was nothing to take to them for a claim, no record, etc. Yes, I know most of you reading this would be full of ideas of what could/should have been done (probably from personal experience) but bearing in mind that we were some 3 weeks from leaving Qatar and had to deal with everything else that a move involves. DH did get the quotes, had the car repaired by our preferred garage and eventually got his refund from the other driver some 10 days later via the police, but unrecorded. The first thing he did following the accident and once having dealt with the police, was to inform the prospective buyer who after having seen the damage and repair, still wanted the car as it had been priced for a quick sale. It certainly gets one thinking as to how many cars could be changing hands with no record of any accident, etc, simply because the relevant authority chooses not to. This certainly got me thinking about the situation should injuries have been sustained. Would the offending driver who was not the owner of the car have been liable? How long would it have taken to sort out the situation, a court case perhaps, etc, etc. With all the what ifs, I still consider that DH was very lucky that it was not worse and I still cannot believe that I managed to leave Qatar with only little dings on my small saloon car – the near misses still freak me, though. All in all, a fortunate end to an unfortunate situation. In that situation, fully comprehensive insurance was of no help. After selling the cars, we used Karwa taxis a lot and were quite surprised to hear the stories of some of the drivers. We did not realize that not all of them are employed by Karwas but hire the taxis for a fixed amount and only pocket what they make above that amount. Good days and bad days of course, trying to make the passengers pay more, i.e. meter not working, etc, but insurance came to mind after our own experience. I know that some of you use taxis (non-Karwa) as a means of transport and I wanted to share that information as you might want to make further queries with the drivers you use about their status re insurance. For those who use drivers for school runs, hopefully you would also have a closer look regarding the safety of your children. It is certainly not a bashing as to the way things happen in Qatar, we have experienced it and it is a fact – under the circumstances, we tried to deal with it as quickly as possible as we had a plane to catch on a specific date. RachelA – I note on another thread that you are leaving soon. One of these unexpected turn of events probably – all the best. Patron, regarding the change from 3rd party to fully comprehensive – both our cars were bought with third party insurance with QIC. We decided to move to Doha Insurance and it was not a problem changing both to fully comprehensive – agree with you that it has hardly proved to be of benefits due to the experience above.

Hi Gina, thanks for your wishes and hugs to you re your own Doha Day. DH is tidying up the remainder of the issue but it is over now, so that's great. It was simply something we did not need at this particular time or at any time for that matter. As much as Doha comes with its load of entertainment (at times unwelcome and exceedingly frustrating), I have also had a great time here and it outweighs the unpleasant bits. As for the people I have met and the EW board, this is the bit that makes it a bit harder to leave but we all know we are simply travellers here and do have to leave eventually. You know you really do not want to come in my suitcase - I bet you will be here for at least another 5 years.;) As for not having to worry about the ways of this world in a few weeks, well it will be worries of a different kind when in UK, you come across :"But we have always done it this way!" Very illogical at times but they won't bulge, so there you see! Have just read an article about a father being harassed for simply taking a picture of his little girl at a shopping centre, the police was called and threatened to arrest him under such and such acts, beggar's belief so each country has got a madness of its own. Health and Safety has reached a stage of ridicule in UK where basic common sense no longer prevail but here you see a window cleaner, construction worker at a certain height with no safety harness ...

Many thanks for your wishes. Unfortunately/fortunately, I do not have any children at school here. My very best wishes that it gets sorted soon ;)

Hi Picklz, thanks for your post. DH is currently at the police station sorting some more of the same problem. I have promised myself that once it is over, I will post as I believe it is informative. DH is a bit unsure how wise it is as it is a public forum and it involves the authorities. So, we have agreed that I will do so once we have left and that is a matter of weeks now.

Sorry Picklz, I don't think it will be for at least 3/4 days as it has to be sorted first. But I do want to share that information so that if any of you is caught up in a similar situation you will have an idea but right now it is GRRRRRRR!