Working Together in Prosperity

Article reproduced from Cyprus Mail, From Ross Pays written in 1999

With a job that over the last thirty years has involved travelling around the world, sometimes to some pretty remote areas, it is easy to delude oneself that one is a seasoned traveller, not someone likely to easily fall into the traps set for the unwary. 

When walking the streets of Jakarta, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Moscow or even London one such traveller (me!) is constantly aware that personal safety and care for personal belongings must in the front of the mind. It came therefore as a bit of a shock to find that, on the recent trip to France and Belgium I was not quite as street wise as I believed.   

Arriving first at Nice airport we hired a car and drove along the southern auto route to Montpellier in the South West of France.  An uneventful drive apart from the occasional near death experiences offered by French lorry drivers and the Mercedes Benz aficionados trying to reach escape velocity and get into orbit at the end of the next upward slope of the road.    

After a fruitful series of meetings and amore gentle drive East through Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, where I spent time looking at investment property developments and meeting potential partners, we  headed back to Nice airport.  Early for the flight a stop for lunch in Juan les Pins seemed in order and a last chance to enjoy French cuisine before fling on to Belgium.  This is where the troubles began as we pulled into town and stopped at traffic lights the back door was opened and a motorcycle passed on the pavement alongside.  In a split second our hand luggage was taken off the floor and the thief jumped on the pillion of the motorcycle, which sped away around the corner.  With several cars in front there was no chance of pursuit and the speed of the action left us with only a vague description of the thieves and the vehicle. 

So to the cautionary part of the tale - this was in the middle of the day in a very busy area - and somewhere were one would not expect there to be lawlessness.  Against common sense, as we were about to fly we had all our most important documents in one easy to carry (and steal!) bag.  This means passports, air tickets, money, credit cards, driving licenses, identity cards and residency permits - name it and it was there.  The only stroke of luck was a single credit card that we had in the front of the car to pay for road tolls. 

The police were sympathetic but not hopeful of any chance of recovery - more of a lesson was that there was literally a queue of people waiting to report similar incidents.  The complications and inconveniences of replacement of so many documents is indescribable.  To start we had a plane to catch and no tickets - fortunately the passport was not a problem travelling from France to Belgium is within the Shengen agreement region so treated as a domestic flight.  But no tickets? no it was not possible to issue replacements we had to buy new ones -thankful for one remaining credit card. 

In Brussels an emergency passport could be issued to get to the UK but this was not acceptable for entry to Cyprus where we live and which was our next destination  - a day in the passport office in Pettyfrance London to get a new passport, another £31 and only valid for a year as an emergency issue.  The costs mount for replacements for lost documents and are actually much greater than the actual loss of cash, the time spent and cost of that time is even greater. 

So words of wisdom in hindsight, never travel with all your documents in one bag, have copies of passports etc. with you, even in what appears to be the safest of locations always remain on guard, the incidence of such thefts is on the increase all over the world it seems.  Travel insurance helps with costs but does not help much when you are in a strange country with no funds or papers.  Consider the special insurance options available with most credit/debit/charge card companies, compare the benefits offered, some offer more than others but all provide some form of emergency assistance in such cases and that is more important than anything when one is marooned penniless and document less in a foreign country.    

Ross Pays is the Chairman of The FAA based in Cyprus. FAA offer advice on wills, tax registration services, home, health and car insurance and tax planning, including Inheritance Tax Planning, together with full accounting services.

Visit Ross Pays website at www.rosspays.com, Telephone 00 357 25 82 58 76, Fax 00 357 25 33 35 93 or e-mail ross@rosspays.com
Initial consultations are free and no obligation and fee quotations will be provided in advance for all services.