Are expatriates turning out to be addicted lottery players? The answer is ‘yes' for at least quite a few expatriates. Although a banned activity in the Kingdom, lottery has been emerging as an addiction among expatriates of various nationalities. Amjad Ali, (name changed upon request), an expatriate car mechanic, said he has been playing lottery for the past several years. After the day's hard work Ali said he has no other thought except to play lottery. Ali came to Saudi Arabia just after three months of his marriage. He thought he would go back home after he earned enough for a decent living. He set a deadline of two-year during which he would build a house. First year of his stay he got news that he had become a father. Ali was ecstatic and started working long hours to earn more and save money for his child. The desire to earn a quick buck and become wealthy made him think of other means. Although a novice, he turned to buy lottery tickets in the hope that he would win a big amount and go home and lead a happy life. Luck favored him and he won a whopping SR10,000 just for a lottery ticket of SR100. But his lust to win more grew instense. Today, his daughter is 18. His wife requested him to come home at least for once to respond to marriage proposals that were coming for his only daughter. Strangely enough, Ali has not seen all those growing years of his daughter, who has reached a marriageable age while his wife kept on begging him to come back home at least for once. Ali is not alone in this addiction. There are many other expatriates who are burning their hard earned money in lottery every month in the hope that they would make a quick buck and go home. Buying lottery ticket is illegal in Saudi Arabia. But the undercover activity has been going on with bookies taking the bids, mostly from foreign nationals. For many expatriate lottery players, there is a mental theory known as the “gambling fallacy” in which the gambler often feels their continued loss of lottery play only means they are growing closer to a win. As the saying goes “birds of the same feather flock together,” a number of likeminded expatriates of different nationalities hold discussions on lottery numbers. Sometimes they buy lottery tickets together. The story of A.Q., another expatriate, also a lottery player is quite moving. A.Q's lottery addiction made him so callous that he does not even care for his family members. He lost his mother followed by his wife back home. His two children are being brought up with his relatives, but he does not go home. So, why do they gamble and play the lottery? wonders Mairaj Hussain, who has been observing his colleagues playing the lottery. Hussain said he has observed the grand pay out that his colleague was once receiving in hard currency. “I was also tempted but managed to resist from playing lottery,” he said. The lottery players are simply ignorant and strongly believe in the laws of probability. After buying the tickets they wait for the greater opportunity for winning a larger lottery payout as the pot continues to grow week after week. In fact, statistically, the lottery players have a one in about 14 million chance of winning a lottery that requires the correct match of six numbers out of 49, the most common requirement of lottery play. Even when faced with these statistics, many lottery players continue to play the lottery, purchasing their tickets, week after week. He said believing in their own luck and destiny, lottery players are often enticed by the stories of other lottery winners and fall prey to lottery drawings, which are announced very informally commonly known as Thailand Lottery. “Why am I so addicted to buying lottery ticket and cannot stop playing it,” said one lottery player. Hussain said the lottery addiction would perhaps be due to the lack of other recreation channels available to the expatriate community. For the most of those expatriates, who live as singles here the life is a monotony with no social connections. Citing the lottery addiction, Hussain said the phenomenon is not restrict to expatriates living in the Kingdom but the problem was also reported from other countries. He said he recently watched a news report which said an Indian state government was planning to levy a tax on sale of lottery tickets in order to rid the youth of their easy-money addiction. Similarly, he said the Saudi authorities have been imposing stringent measures and news of raids on places of lottery bidding are often heard.Who compensates for the death of a passenger? Q: My company provides me with car insurance. Recently one of my colleagues' vehicle met with an accident and one of his passengers died on the spot and two of them, including the driver, were injured. The vehicle overturned and there was no third party vehicle involved in the accident. The dead passenger did not get any compensation. I would like to know whether my policy would provide compensation for death of the passengers in my vehicle as we have adequate coverage for the drivers.A: In any motor vehicle accident there are multiple scenarios. There may be one-third party or more than one third party involvement, the driver of the vehicle may be responsible or none may be responsible. Your current policy includes coverage to Third Parties, one aspect covers Third Party Property Damage and the other aspect covers Third Party Personal injury (this includes death and disability). In case a passenger dies in your car due to the fault of the third party then the family of the passenger of your car can recover the money from the third party. In case your driver is held responsible then you/your driver will be legally liable to pay for the loss of life to the family of the passenger. In your current policy the passenger is also treated as third party and you can recover the claims from your insurance company, subject to admissible legal liability. However, I will suggest you to take an additional Personal Accident extension with your motor policy. This will cover up to SR100,000 in case of death of a passenger. On getting compensation, the claim process is easier and the settlement has less legal hassles.Q: I had applied for a loan to purchase a house as a privilege given to me by my life insurance company. On completing all the formalities, they are asking me to produce a fire insurance policy in my name with the lending company as the first beneficiary. When I am having a life insurance policy, is it essential for me to have a fire policy also?A: Most financial institutions give loans to individuals but they ask the individuals to take insurance. The main reason is to protect the assets. Once the loan is sanctioned the institution has a stake in the asset and the prime interest of the institution is to protect its asset and the person owning the asset. Insurance provides the needed protection to the life of the person who takes the loan and the property acquired by him. It is a condition that you will get your loan only on production of the insurance policy hence you are left with no choice. The rates for property insurance are very reasonable. I suggest you to get full coverage, including loss due to natural perils.* Shujaath Ahmed Khan, an M.B.A., General Manager, Creative Associates is also a consultant and an expert in Insurance, Investments and Real Estate, can be contacted at [email protected], Website-www.creativeassociates.blogspot.com __
