Going back to the UK
 

Going back to England, my drivers license expired in the UK what do I need to do if I decide to go back to the UK to get a UK drivers license

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Do you still have your UK driving licence?

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Yes

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Simply apply for a new DL with your new address in the U.K. You’ll need the number on the old DL, which could be the old green paper one, or an old photo card. They’ll also need a passport photo and some other confirmations such as your passport number. The process is quite straightforward and fully explained on the various government websites.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Pick up Form D1 from the Post Office or apply online. The DVLA will be able to pull your passport photo so you don’t need to take any new ones.

https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence

Re: Going back to the UK
 

On returning in 2016 I simply applied to renew my licence. I did have to include a photo with the application, not sure why as my passport was recent.

Going back home
 

I have a few questions with regards to going back to England, we have been in Florida for 16 years but it time we came back to England.
so my English drivers license ran out 5 years ago am I able to my license back.
we have Dual citizenships do we loose the US one.
we still have a bank account in the U.K. and one in the US, would you keep the US one so my Social Security goes in the US one or just have it deposited in my U.K. one.
are we able to get a Doctor and if so what do we do.
We are probably going to rent, can you recommend an Agent, can you rent to own.
we will only be taking personal belongings back which is maybe 5 or 6 boxes can you recommend someone that’s pretty reasonable.
Finally anyone who as gone back recently did you incur any Major problems and did you find it difficult to adjust, I may have more questions later,also we are both retired

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Thank you

Going back to the UK
 

Questions,we intend to go back to the UK after 16 years in Florida.
So if we have dual citizenship do we loose our US citizenships.
are we able to get health/Doctor.We get Social Security would it be better to have it transferred your UK bank or the US bank, for currency reasons.
we are probably going to rent, but can you rent to buy and could anybody advice on a good agent.
we are only bringing probably 5/6 boxes no furniture can anyone suggest shipping companies.
Drivers license I think I got the answers i needed.
my final question is to anybody who has gone home recently, what if any was the pitfalls, or can you give us any suggestions for getting prepared, also we are both retired
thank you

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I can answer a couple of those.
No, you won't lose your US citizenship.
As British citizens you can access all NHS services immediately upon your permanent return to the UK.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

The US currently has a series of agreements with the UK that would allow your SS money to be deposited directly into a UK bank account.

https://www.ssa.gov/deposit/foreign.htm

Which is more beneficial to you financially I have no idea. I would suggest getting some tax/financial advice from a pro to make sure you know exactly what to do. Also, you can call the Social Security people on the phone and explain your situation and they will tell you what to do re bank accounts, etc.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I recently attended a webinar given by Jack Leuchtman of the Federal Benefits Unit in the US Embassy in London. He confirmed that the best way to apply for SS while living in the UK is through the FBU website. He also said what I already had heard is that having your SS paid directly into your UK bank is the best exchange rate you will get anywhere and comes with no additional fees. When applying for SS the folks at the FBU best understand voluntary NI contributions as applied to the UK OAP and WEP as applied to SS, and when you have an interview for your SS to have all your OAP paperwork ready at hand.

I turned 65 recently and he recommends getting Medicare A which is free and covers hospital treatment as we do travel to the USA most years to visit our daughter (we do also take out travel insurance). I decided to give the FBU a try out and sent them my request and details through the link he provided. I have heard back from them and have a telephone interview scheduled in a couple of weeks. (They will call me).

https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen...email_enquiry/

Re: Going back to the UK
 

We returned to the UK in 2016 as retirees after 29 years in the USA. We are both dual UK/US citizens.

Advice I would give is to do some financial preparation ahead of time.
1) Not all banks will support an overseas address. Ours did not so we switched banks well ahead of time and had my US private pensions changed to go there etc.
2) Similar advice to your 401k providers. My wife and I each rolled our 401ks into IRAs in a brokerage that does support overseas customers.
3) If you have mutual funds in taxable accounts (outside of IRAs, 401ks etc) then if you switch them to HMRC Reporting Funds then they will receive the favorable lower tax treatment given to capital gains and qualified dividends.
4) Retain a US bank and credit card, and a US phone number. (US Phone numbers can be obtained through Skype, Google etc). For example our brokerage occasionally requires 2nd level verification when logging on and that is the number we use as it doesn't support international numbers to send verification codes to.
5) In the UK folks are taxed as individuals only, so if your income is lopsided as ours is, then look at how you may minimize taxes. For example we took my name off our after-tax brokerage account so that our interest payments, qualified dividends and capital tax gains are completely free of UK tax as my wife's personal tax free allowance of £12,500 plus the cap gains tax free allowance of £12,300 and qualified dividend tax free allowance of £2,000 more than covers it.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

hey

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Thank you for the info

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I have another couple of questions, going back to the U.K. what is the average cost per Month of utilities like gas,electric, water, council tax and car insurance also TV, just trying to work it out.
Any answers would be appreciated

Re: Going back to the UK
 

2019 figures for me in N Yorkshire. 4 bed 2 bath Detached house, band D council tax

Electric + Gas £1,088/year
Phone £14/mo unlimited voice and text, 4GB data
Internet & Basic cable (no movies or sports packages) £60/mo
car insurance £190/year
house insurance £93/year
council tax £2,444/year
water £338/year (metered)
Car tax £137/year
Car fuel (5,000 miles) £545
TV licence £150/year

Re: Going back to the UK
 

My figures are roughly the same as Durham Lad's, except our fuel costs were less as we walked most places and our Council tax was around £1,600. Durham Lad obviously lives in a posher area than I did :D

Re: Going back to the UK
 

True dat :)

We walk a lot as well, rarely use the car to go shopping etc. However we are retired and do a lot of traveling hence the mileage. This year because of Covid it is quite different.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Would you mind adding roughly what a weekly food and household supplies shop for two comes out to? I'm making notes. Not able to move yet, but need the knowledge.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

There are tons of threads where people have given their monthly costs which would be worth searching for, here's a very recent one - https://britishexpats.com/forum/movi...ngland-932896/

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I really don't know what we spend each week on this, it's all lumped into our monthly credit card bill which includes meals out etc.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

thank you for your reply, can you get a Mortgage or is it difficult

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I don’t know. Both ourselves and our son bought our UK houses for cash. (Not literally cash in a suitcase but a bank transfer from US to UK)

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I'd imagine that the ease or otherwise of getting a mortgage will be the same as for anywhere, it's really just a case of does the mortgage provider consider you a good credit risk, do you have the required deposit, is your income sufficient to service the mortgage payments, is the property valued appropriately, that sort of thing.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

So if you've converted your 401k to an IRA, do the US rules apply to withdrawing before 59 1/2? Is the 10% penalty still levied under the treaty?

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Yes, the rules on withdrawing before 59.5 still apply, they apply to both IRAs and 401ks. If you make a withdrawal from an IRA then it is taxed as regular income in the UK without the 10% penalty and it is taxed as regular income in the USA plus the 10% penalty. Normally one would use a foreign tax credit to reduce the US tax paid and I don’t know if that tax credit would be applied to the US tax + 10% penalty or just to the US tax paid.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I found this website which gives you a look at the cost of living by city: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Notoriously inaccurate though, I've always found it's greatly overestimated the cost of things in the UK, can only assume it's Waitrose/Boden shoppers inputting their costs rather than Lidl/Primark shoppers!

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Thats double taxation though - if you have your W8-BEN on file with your US broker and you are UK domiciled again, wouldn't you just pay tax to the HMRC and not to the IRS at all under the DT treaty? Still trying define whether you have to pay the 10% penalty to the HMRC if you're still under 59 1/2 in this scenario as I can't find clarification anywhere.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I'm a USC living in the UK so W8-BEN does not apply, and my brokerage does not do any mandatory withholding and I choose not to have any withholding each time I make a withdrawal from my IRA. I pay tax to both HMRC and IRS on worldwide income which includes IRA withdrawals but I take a foreign tax credit against my US taxes so pay zero taxes to the IRS. Because I don't have any withholdings on the IRA withdrawals the IRS is not holding my money. When I submit my IRS tax return the tax is calculated as if all the income was taxable in the US then the foreign tax credits are applied.

I don't know how it all works for foreign persons making IRS withdrawals but I would expect the IRS to want its 10% penalty for early withdrawals given that was the agreement when the tax deferred contributions were made.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Hi. I'm new to this site, so apologies if I'm short-cutting or posting in the wrong place...I'm thinking of returning to the UK after 25 years in Canada. On investigating car insurance, I've been quoted 1200 pounds a year. (I have 43 years experience with no accidents.) Someone below has said their insurance is 190 per year. How would I achieve this price?

Re: Going back to the UK
 

Aviva will honor no claims records from overseas, at least they did in 2017. My son was able to get his insurer to send a pdf file of his driving record which he then uploaded to the Aviva site as part of his car insurance application. He also needed to upload a copy of his last US insurance certificate along with that pdf.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

To get an insurance premium at that sort of level, you'd need to get your driving record recognised rather than being treated as a new driver, plus live in a safe area, and drive a car that isn't very exciting. :lol:

Good luck with the move back.

Re: Going back to the UK
 

I live in Toronto and drive a Mazda 2. Doesn't get much more exciting than that. I did use my current vehicle model for the 1200 pound quote for Ipswich! Also not exactly an exciting place to live. Thanks for the advice. I'll contact my present insurer.