Martin72

I have just called my the bank that my current account resides to let them know that I will be moving abroad and to check they don't block my card use in Australia (not that I will be using it).

I told them I will be there for a year just to check what they would say only to be told that "due to legislation all current account opened after 2004 must be closed and cannot be kept open if you are out of the country for more that 6 months"

This is the first I have heard for this and I want to leave the account open as I don't want to transfer all of my money know and will still have bills coming out of the account for the next 3 years.

Can someone advise.

Thanks

Martin

ABCDiamond

That's a new one to me, although I have heard of people opening accounts in Jersey. Maybe partly that reason ?

coshybabe

hi, ive had my uk bank account open for the last year, had some D/D going out of it and still do. cancel your paper statements and confirm all things with someone in the bank and get their card etc, once they give you their name etc they will feel confident in giving you the correct infor. mine is still going ok, i do internet banking. when you come out not sure if you are aware but you can open a uk account with the commonwealth in london. what you do is transfer any money from uk account to them either in person at your local bank (money transfer) or internet just like paying a bill they open an oz account for you which you can only activate once arriving here with your passport. you can leave english money in there til you are ready to convert it over, up to 2yrs u can leave it there. i can give you their tel no if you are interested or get it on web. u can also book cheap one way fares with qantas with extra bag allow for migrating. they will hold flights for you until you are ready to confirm. with the oz account you can have all your chq books and cards then ready for when you arrive. definately keep your uk account open it makes life so much easier. if i ever get family members to send something out for me or the kids i just pay them back by transferring money into their account or its handy if you forget someones birthday

Les Avalook

Nationwide have no problem if you live abroad but keep your UK account open.

Martin72

This is why I was shocked by what I was being told. The bank is question was A&L i.e. now part of the Santander group.

I am not 100% sure how they can tell you have been out of the country for more than 6 months.

Also I can find no reference to the 2004 legislation she was mentioning.

As I told her surely in the current climate she should be happy I am keeping my money within their bank.

Martin72

Luckily everything else is sorted as far as the money is concerned. Initial Funds already in Australia and cards etc are waiting for me when I arrive this Sunday.

Will have to work out when to Tx the rest of the money. Was working with a 1 to 2 exchange rate, but this is now a long way off. I think 1.90 might be achievable after the election (assuming no hung parliament) and that we keep our AAA rating.

JAJ

That's because there is no such legislation. They possibly want you to close your account and are trying to invent an excuse. Or the person you spoke to doesn't know anything about the law.

Family of 3

We've kept our Lloyds account open the whole time we've lived in Singapore (4 days shy of 13 years). It was obviously opened before 2004 though.

For years we had savings accounts with Bradford and Bingley which, like Lloyds, my mum operated with our POA. After they were taken over by Abbey/Santander their rules became so inflexible that we closed the accounts.

Martin72

I will call them back today and check again. I am not sure why they would want me to close the account as it currently has money from my house sale in it.

It may just be best to not tell them anything. I only informed them incase I needed to use any of the cards in Australia, but as I already have an account setup in Oz and money out there I shouldn't need to use it.

Thanks for all the help

Red_V_Roger

Santander (Abbey) told us about 2 1/2 years ago that if we wanted our interest UK tax free, we had to close the UK account and open one of their offshore accounts.

We decided to leave it alone and pay the UK tax, just declaring it on Australian tax forms to avoid double taxation.

Martin72

Located the text. Its actually only in there terms and conditions and must be just to protect them from sending correspondence abroad (mine is all online anyway).

The account is already at a UK address which will be staying active so no problem.

"Unless You have had a continuous relationship with Us since before 1 January 2004, Your Account cannot be transferred to a non-UK address. If You wish to alter the Account address to a non-UK address, the Account must be closed and a cheque issued for the balance"

DestinationSydney

Hi, they did this to me 2 months after I first arrived even when the branch told me it was ok. We needed the account as still have a uk property however thankfully I had a very old account with the TSB to move it too so do sort it out before you leave as it is a lot of hassle.

lesleys

UK financial institutions seem to make up their own rules about overseas account holders. It's no use arguing or trying to beat their system. Just ring around and open another account elsewhere and close the A&L. A pain but much less bother in the long-term.

To avoid paying UK tax at source get an account in the Isle of Man or Jersey. It's easier to pay the tax in Oz. Really.

Les Avalook

Just remember that Isle of Man has a lower government guarantee for your savings, not sure about Jersey.

Oz has $1,000,000!

JAJ

But it is not legislation. So in that respect, you were told wrong, for whatever reason.


They just don't want non-resident accounts. Perhaps they have decided such business is unprofitable.