susanRem

Hi

This has probably been asked before, but I can't find it. I am already receiving UK State Pension here and am moving to Oz on a Contributory Parent visa hopefully in about 6 weeks time. Do you tell the Pension Service you are moving to Oz and let them transfer your pension on a monthly basis, directly into your Oz account, or is it better to use a company like Halo Finance or Moneycorp? Is there a difference in the exchange rate they use i.e tourist or commercial.

I would be interested to see what other pensioners do.

Thanks
Susan

eddie007

Hi... this isnt a totally shameless bump... I'm intested in the answer to this too as the grey nomads are coming out at the end of May.... They'll need this info too...

Bermudashorts

You certainly need to tell them, not least so you can arrange to receive your pension gross of tax. The tax should be paid in Australia. I cannot imagine that it will be sent to an Australian bank account as then they would have to pay fees, or adjust the pension to claw it back. Too much admin, you will need to arrange for the funds to be transferred, try Ozforex.

Kiwipaul

+1

Get them to keep paying it into a UK bank and then use Ozforex or similair to transfer it to Oz bank. The larger the amount you transfer the less it costs as each transfer is charged a fee (Generally about 10 Pounds).

Once set up online you might even be able to schedule an automatic transfer.

DerekM

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In my experience its best to get them to send it over to an Aussie Bank Account, they will transfer it to Aussie Dollars at a preferential exchange rate thats valid at that time. They get a better rate due to the large scale of funds they transfer. If you dont need it then it may be worth while saving it in the UK at terrible interest rates and hoping the pound goes up!

Wol

We came on a Contributory Parent visa some eight years ago so have some knowledge of what's involved!

If you tell them, the State pension will be remitted in AU$ to your Australian bank account at the intervals you choose - ours are done every four weeks which means thirteen payments per year. The exchange rate obviously varies month by month, and it's difficult to make a comparison with other methods because it goes up and down by the second and you can't get figures that match, but in my experience the rate is as good as you will get - the pension service obviously sends £xx million a month out and it gets allocated to the various pensioners on arrival.

As you know it will be frozen at the UK£ amount you receive the day you leave, and if you have a company pension you may find that some of that is also frozen or curtailed (the Minimum Guarantee part)

If you keep a UK credit card going - which is a very useful tactic - you might find it better to remit the pension to your UK bank account so that if and when you travel abroad/back to the UK you can use the money without a double exchange hit.

Good luck!