[Smiler]

When I get to NZ with PR ( Please please please soon)

Can I keep a UK bank account? In theory I have parents address to use. I will need to make some payments from it to people in UK, a couple of direct debits and some cash to my son from the bank of Mum and Dad.

Will I be breaking the law anywhere?

Deborah

[Timbo]

I dont think you would be doing anything wrong at all Deborah, especially as you would still be a UK citizen. Lots of folk must keep a UK account going, if for nothing else, then just to fund basic national insurance contributions to make sure of getting a full state pension.

[Smiler]

Timbo

I'm probably getting out of my depth but thought there was a reciprocal agreement between the UK and NZ and we would only get a NZ one.:(

Deborah

[GeorgeM]

We just kept our old HSBC account going and changed the address to NZ.

We do most transactions over the net, but occasionally they send us a paper statement through the post.

[Miffy]

Still got my UK account. with a small amount of 'slush' fund in it.

As I live abroad they offered my an offshore account (basedin Jersey) but don't have enough money in it to make it worth while

[jocalla]

We to have kept our Barclays account going, just using my parents address. Everthing I do, I do online anyway. Every month I just swap some money from my account to my husbands, then vice versa just to keep the accounts active.

[Moorf]

Snap, kept our Barclays accounts.... but, can I ask if anyone here can transfer funds ONLINE between their UK and NZ accounts - we've been told it's a total no-no - would be interested to hear if anyone else can do this. :confused:

[jubjub]

We can do a transfer online, but it has to go through our ASB migrant banking account, and get converted to $ in London..... rates are not too bad, so far generally about 0.2 below the actual bank exchange rate

[Moorf]

Ah, ok - so you set up a special account before leaving the UK? Wonder if Barclays do one....

[Tara Sage]

We have still got our UK account too, i just use my Visa card from the UK account saves transferring the money Not that there is much left in there now was thinking about closing it!!

We are not going back to the UK, not through choice anyway

[Avalon]

One thing that IS different is ISA's. We couldnt open ISA's in the UK becasue we are no longer residenst there, so we had to get my parents to open them in thier names and give them the money (and hope they give it us back!)

Also, money transfers are a LOT cheaper through HIFX. You have to open a trading account with them, but once its open, you just call (in the UK or in NZ), get the rate (often 2-3c higher than the bank), agree to the trade, then pay money from your UK bank account to the Hifx Uk account and the money turns up in your NZ account a few days later! No Charges!

On a £5000 transfer - im saving a good $150-200 beace of teh difference in rates, and the fact that there are no added charges. You can also move much smaller amounts of money - which means you can take advantage of small increases in the rates.

We do most of our UK banking via the internet (with First Direct) but also phone them occasionally - they ahve a dedicated line for ex-pats which puts you at the front of the queue to get your calls answered

[Kenny]

We have been here over 9 years now and still have a bank account in the UK.
We get money paid into it and have standing orders going out.
We even sign cheques to ourselves to pay into our bank here when the balance gets up.

The one thing I would say to anyone doing this.
If you want to be able to manage the account over the internet, the banks require you to be in a UK address to be able to register.
We tried to register on-line and because out IP address is not assigned to the UK, it failed validation. We have had the same account for over 25 years, have always been in credit and have regular amounts going in and out without problems.
But you have to be in the UK to register. They would not even do it over the phone.

[Smiler]

Thank you all for the info:nice1

Mine is all done on-line so looks like I'll be ok then PHEW!!

Deborah

[richard]

Thank you all for the info:nice1

Mine is all done on-line so looks like I'll be ok then PHEW!!

Deborah

It depends what the attitude of your bank is. I am with Intelligent Finance and the front page of their on-line banking website states:-

"This site is intended only for people who live in the UK and you must be a UK resident to apply for our products. "

They don't seem to stop me using it from NZ though.

[marcia]

One thing that IS different is ISA's. We couldnt open ISA's in the UK becasue we are no longer residenst there, so we had to get my parents to open them in thier names and give them the money (and hope they give it us back!)




I haven't looked into this yet, just wondered if you knew the answer as you mentioned ISA's. Can you leave the money here in an exisiting one, in your own name or do you have to close them totally no longer being a uk resident??

[Radders]

I still have my ISA as I wanted to wait for the end of tax year before closing it altogether. No one's been knocking on my Mount front door, so I think it's not a problem.

[GeorgeM]

We were told that we could keep our ISAs/PEPs but that we had to stop contributing to them, which is what we have done. With the stock market down low we didn't want to cash them in when we left. Now it's the exchange rate that's causing us to leave them be.

[marcia]

Thanks for that info about the ISA's, may not be an option leaving them as we may want the money for a house but at least we have choice!

[Diny]

We still have our Virgin One/Royal Bank Of Scotland bank account in the UK - and like everybody else, do everything on-line with them. I have a Visa card with this account which I can use anywhere.

Also have my offshore account which can accessed from anywhere. Both accounts have our NZ address.

Haven't had any problems (so far).

Diny

[Avalon]

I haven't looked into this yet, just wondered if you knew the answer as you mentioned ISA's. Can you leave the money here in an exisiting one, in your own name or do you have to close them totally no longer being a uk resident??


Marcia -

Honestly dont know as we didnt have any prior to emigrating. Georges answer makes sence though.

[Avalon]

Also have my offshore account which can accessed from anywhere. Both accounts have our NZ address.

Haven't had any problems (so far).

Diny

OK, could you please explain the benefits of offshore accounts? I just cant seem to grasp how it is better than having a UK account. So what am I missing?????

Help! It takes me ages to learn anything where money is concerned!

[debnjohn]

OK, could you please explain the benefits of offshore accounts? I just cant seem to grasp how it is better than having a UK account. So what am I missing?????

Help! It takes me ages to learn anything where money is concerned!

Same here ! I'm not sure I can see the advantage of an offshore account for myself - I know it is good if you have funds/get paid in different currencies but our savings are all in £GBP. I think interest earned in a UK account will be liable for UK tax, whereas interest earned offshore is not. But we won't be earning that much interest? Does anyone know what the taxable rate is for non-Uk residents? I mean will we still have a tax allowance? Or should I be looking to open an offshore account whilst I can? (Flying out in 2 weeks !!!) Oh all so confusing :p

As for online transfers, I was hoping to move money from our First Direct account to a NZ HSBC account, but there is a £10 charge at the UK end AND a $15 receipt charge at the NZ end. So we have opened a Nationwide Flex account, which can be topped up online from FD. Nationwide do not charge for cash withdrawls overseas so hopefully we will be able to withdraw from local ATMs in Christchurch.

Cheers,
John

[Avalon]

As for online transfers, I was hoping to move money from our First Direct account to a NZ HSBC account, but there is a £10 charge at the UK end AND a $15 receipt charge at the NZ end. So we have opened a Nationwide Flex account, which can be topped up online from FD. Nationwide do not charge for cash withdrawls overseas so hopefully we will be able to withdraw from local ATMs in Christchurch.

Cheers,
John

John,

Just watch out for EFTPOS limits on withdrawing funds!(Dont know if it applies - but for reference the banks here can have really low limits) Also, do you know what RATE of exchange you would get on the day you withdraw the money (this will be the rate at Nationwide).

You wont get the added charges - but you also wont get the best rates.

This means it good for small transactions (such as cash for living expenses) but when it comes to moving a lot of money - the currency brokers are well worth a look. 1-2c for every £ really starts to add up when you look at moving 10-20-100k!

Moneysavingexpert - actually recommended your method as a way of sending money overseas! ;)

[KD17]

One thing to consider is whether you could still be classed as being domiciled in the UK still, if so, you could be liable for UK Inheritence Tax and/or Capital Gains taxation.

Any financial link to the UK could potentially make you liable for this (i believe). It would be best to speak with a financial advisor over this.

I know that all sounds very serious :( but the last thing I want my family to be hit with is UK taxation after I'm long gone...

I cut all my financial links when I move to the Isle of Man and I know it's quite acceptable to have an account here with an overseas address if you still have financial commitments here, which I'm sure would be the same in the UK.

[Avalon]

KD17 -

Could you just clarify for me - is there a difference between domiciled and "resident for tax purposes"?

This is something Ive never heard of! However as part of our financial planning - we will be looking into estate planning - so at some point i need to learn this.

thanks