Back2Blighty

Hi everyone

Sorry not been on this site for a while so I thought I would give you an update. If you remember I returned to the UK from Canada as a single parent with four suitcases and the cat in May of last year after being in Canada for 4 years.

The good things - being back near the sea, the food, the shopping, the humour and seeing friends and family and being able to be more involved again in their lives. I have secured a job after three months of concerted searching as a PA to the Principal at a local secondary school. My 12 year old daughter has settled back in the UK school system but has some catching up to do as she moved from Grade 6 in Alberta to Year 8 in the UK. I am currently paying for additional tuition to help her catch up her missing year. She has made new friends and is enjoying the ability to get on a bus and have more independence. My own social life is still somewhat bare but there are a good bunch of girls in the office and I will make more of an effort to be able to get out and about. We managed to get to Majorca last summer for a cheap beach holiday which was fantastic, would like to take my daughter to Disney Paris this year, pennies permitting.

The bad things - traffic, lack of parking, graffiti and litter, seems we Brits don't care very much for our little island. The conversations about immigration, unemployment, overcrowding - blah, blah, blah. Also found that customer service is almost always non-existent compared to what I had become used to in Canada. In our second rental property, fed up of paying someone else's mortgage so thinking of dipping my toe into the property market this year.

The downright ugly - cost of petrol, cost of car insurance (as an ex-ex-pat found it difficult for anyone to insure me despite my 20+ years of experience). The main issue I suppose for my situation is the distance between my daughter and me ex in that he doesn't seem to make an effort to keep in touch and then as usual it's all my fault. Also due to the nature of our split (I won't go into the gory details here) our contact is sporadic and not always amicable thereby putting additional pressure on me.

Wishing everyone a happy 2014.

Back2Blighty

MissBetty

Thanks for the update! You come across as such a strong, positive person - getting a job, bringing up your daughter alone, planning fab holidays for you both, it can't be easy but you are getting there!

Doesn't the time fly? I came home in May too and, like you, I've had my ups and downs but mainly ups and I agree with everything you said about the nightmare traffic and people's moaning lol lol!!!!!

Hope you do manage to get on the property ladder this year, would be the icing on the cake for you and your daughter. Soon we will be posting our 'Back One Year' updates, it will nearly be summer again and hopefully both our social lives will have picked up a bit! Fingers crossed for us both!

Brigette

Thanks so much for such a candid update. Really appreciate your honesty about life in the Uk. Wishing you the best and hopefully you will be able to make friends soon. Good luck and I look forward to your next update

chris955

Thanks for the update. I am surprised by many of the bad things though I must admit. We see virtually no litter or graffiti, not just in our village but generally. I guess it would be different if I lived in a city. Also we have been very pleased with customer service as we were led to believe it was non existent but have found the exact opposite. Car insurance was easy, most companies I contacted were happy to cover us and didnt even look at my proof of no claims. Can I ask where you are in the UK please? I know some will think I am making this up but I can of course only comment on what we see personally.
Glad its all working out for you.

brissybee

Who did you insure your car with Chris? I'm interested as I've heard this can be tricky with no UK insurance history. Though maybe you already had insurance history in the UK?

Diane76

did you have to wait 3mths before being able to apply for any government help (eg. housing benefit/ child support)??

Genie3

So lucky with your job...well done!! Where abouts in the UK are you?
It does sound like the things that upset us before are still there I guess, I found this on the trip back last year that opened my can of worms. Who did you end up getting insurance with and as the previous poster mentioned, did you have any issues getting Govt help to get back on your feet?
I leave on Sunday with 2 girls 15 and 11, my son 17 is staying, he has not been in contact in nearly (he lived with the ex) 3 yrs, last Oct my ex left the country when we were in the UK, he knew our details and timed flights to cross over, and claimed all sorts of nonsense that he didn't know we were going he contacted the schools to get them un-enrolled (yet they had already been advised of our trip and the girls were away 3 weeks!) all mega and so much more crap has happened and I hate the idea I am going back to where he is and his Mafia of a family are, he has paid nothing to our kids in 3 years, I'm fed up of struggling and really want to be able to make a life for us, can we do it in your experience??

Sorry thread hijack in some eyes I guess....sorry's in advance...(please don't shoot me)

formula

That comes into force in a couple of weeks time, if you aren't working.

The no job seekers until resident in the UK for 3 months, came in in January. It only applies to income based job seekers, so if you have contributed to the UK in the revelant 2 tax years, you can still claim contribution based job seekers for 6 months maximum.

Benefits do not come through very quickly and the welfare state has now stopped the Crisis Loans and are using that money for foodbanks instead. Once you have been in the UK long enough to claim, you can ask the job centre for a referral to your local foodbank until any benefits come through. You can't use a foodbank unless you have a referral.

windsong

What is it that comes into force in a couple of weeks' time? Is it that you will then have to wait three months for housing benefit?

LostBrit99

I think its three months for housing benefit, isnt it?