debs1966

Hi Guys

Can anybody please advise me I went to my bank Barclays and they advise me that if I am out of the country for more than 6 months I am not meant to keep an account open in the UK by rights.

The only thing is I have a rental property here in the UK which I am going to keep on until or if the prices start going up and have the rent payments paid into my account.

What do must people do in this situation please? Do must people who emigrate still keep an account open or do they transfer it into there Aussie Bank Account?

I would really appreciate any advice on this matter.

Kind regards

Debbie

HelenTD

I've still got my account and they send me bank statements directly to my Australian address. I hadn't used the account for 12 years until last year.

Pollyana

Tosh there are people on here who have been out here many years and still have UK accounts. If your branch of Barclays are reluctant to let you have an Aussie address open an account somewhere else
I've got a Lloyds account and a Lloyds Visa card, they send new cards to me here in Aus with no problem, and if you search the forum you'll find many people have kept their UK accounts open - makes it easier when home on holiday, and if you have kids its easy for people to put money in for them and you draw it out here. If you have a rental property there then you definitely should keep an account open.

HelenTD

Sorry, forgot to say, my account is with HSBC, so they have no problem with keeping an account open.

JetBlast

As other have said its rubbish. My uncle is with Barclays and lives in Australia. I have an account in the HSBC and Natwest and both said its ok to do this.

Just one tip, if you dont have online banking, get it setup will be handy if your in Australia.

quoll

Have had an account with the Co-op for the 32 years that we have been here and never had a problem.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Do you still claim the Divi?

LittleKittyCat

We bank with Barclays and have a current and savings account with them. They know we live in Australia, and were happy to send bank statements etc to my in-laws.

DeadVim

I've still got my Natwest account after 6 years, I should have collected the pigs too, they are worth a fortune ...

CrunchieFrog

You just nostalgia bombed me.

Kooky.

As said, they're talking total crap.

I'm with the piddly little Yorkshire Bank and I have both internet and telephone banking set up. I move large amounts of money around with very little hassle (occasionally a signature is needed - that's where a fax machine comes in handy).

UK credit cards are, IME, slightly trickier. We find it handy to keep a couple going so use the in-laws' address for those, although we were upfront with the providers about not being resident.

DeadVim

"The piggies are waiting, piggaroo, pigaroo ..."

spuddyo

We have Natwest accounts, statements and letters come directly to our Australian address and have done for 15 years. It's handy to have when sending money to family and purchasing UK goods.

It'll also be handy when our UK pension is paid into it in a few years time ( if there's any left ) and can be drawn directly from the hole in the wall here.

killerhales

When we first left the UK in 1995 we opened an account with NatWest in the Isle of Man, (now owned by RBS I think) used all of our local (foreign) addresses including our current Australian one for years with no problem.

We also have a UK property and use it as a "home" address for things like premium bonds. One year of post redirection from the Royal Mail costs GBP135

We found it too difficult initially to set up the redirection remotely, so asked my UK based Dad to go to the Post Office for us. Once it is set up it is easy to renew online, as we have just done.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

You must like junk mail a lot to spend 135 quid a year to get it flown over here.