3 points to watch out for when selling car

If you are planning to sell your car in the UAE, a common piece of advice is not to take a personal cheque from the buyer.

Recently, in some cases buyers conned sellers and paid in personal cheques, which were later dishonoured by the bank, leaving the seller doing the rounds of the police station.

“I could never think that I would be conned. The buyers appeared genuine and I did not get any signals that they could con me. I have not received any money and lost my car,” said an expat living in Dubai who sold his car for a bogus personal cheque without wishing to be named.

Such cases may go up during the summer months when many expats leave the country and sell their cars.

“First of all, sell your car for cash. You should insist on accepting cash even if the buyer prefers giving you a cheque,” a police official told Emirates 24|7.

“Moreover, make sure that all the registration work happens during daytime. If you complete all the formalities later during the day, you will have less time on hand to diligently check everything,” he added.

Police advises time and again that residents should not take personal cheques as payment when selling their cars.

Accepting cash, a mangers cheque or simply encashing the personal cheque before the vehicle is registered under the buyers name is a prudent thing to do.

If you have been a victim, the first thing that you should do is to report the bounced cheque to the concerned police station, where a case will be registered.

The Dubai police App can also be used to report bounced cheques to the Police Department.  The App allows customers to send photos of the bounced cheques to the Dubai police App and register their complaints.

You can report a bad cheque if it has been issued from Dubai and its validity date of being cashed has not expired.

The service permits the user to take a photo and fill a quick form with some details. After this, the police will issue you a letter, which can be taken to the bank.

The bank will then deal with the police for the rest of the procedures. However, for serious situations where the case needs to be taken to the prosecution, the customers need to go to the police themselves.

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