Pollyana

Still holding my breath as the system is struggling to cope with the idea of paying the rent from a pension I don't actually have in my hand yet, but the agent and owner are keen. I'm still a bit shocked, and really hope it goes through cos never really expected to get one in advance!

Thanks for all that - definitely going to sign up with moneysavingexpert - I'd heard of them years ago, but totally forgotten them.

Very useful on the football front, gives me starting point.
Good point on the council tax - had it on my list but forgot about the discount.

I'm collapsing in a hotel at Heathrow for 24 hours, and they reckon they can get me a minicab at a good price; not braving National Express this time, too much luggage will make that far too stressful! I'll get a price from them nearer the time and compare with the likes of uber, and with booking one privately.

Thanks muchly!

tdrinker

As the self assessment tax return is submitted in arrears you could use an online tax calculator to check whether you have paid the correct amount of tax. There are several, it's worth using a couple to make sure they are giving a consistent answer.

tdrinker

For a minicab quote, you can also try a comparison site which will present quotes from several companies, e.g.:

https://www.minicabit.com/

tdrinker

You can see the upcoming televised PL football games and who is screening them here. Sky has 128 games, BT Sport 52 games, Amazon 20 games.

https://www.live-footballontv.com/li...all-on-tv.html

Pollyana

Thanks, thats all really helpful info

durham_lad

On the HMRC taxes question, if you haven't done so already it will be well worth setting up your account on the HMRC gov website where you can see your taxes, NI contributions etc. Certainly not a big rush to get this done.

https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-h...vices/register

Or you could do what our son did. Nothing. And let HMRC figure it out. He returned end of September, 2017, started a job end of October/ early November. Sometime the following year he told me that HMRC had sent him a refund because he had paid too much tax through PAYE.

Chocolate eclair

Thanks for starting this thread Pollyana, not all of it is applicable to us but it's answering quite a few of my questions and some I hadn't got round to thinking about yet.
Thanks for all the input from those contributing to it.

OzSheila

We’ve always found Direct Line v good for car/contents insurance.

Pollyana

I do have an account, just use it to check my NI, never looked into the tax side of it there - I'll have a play, many thanks!

I'll check them, thanks!


Good luck with your move - glad this is helpful!

brits1

You should changed your profession and start us as an expat settlement officer your list is that good, well done you. I would wait until you return to the UK and have a look around if you want to change your mobile carrier, I have a pre paid mobile (have some since we arrived in 2010) with Vodafone I find it excellent but there are many others to choose from it depends on what you need and use your mobile for, Tesco also have its own mobile shops and in person for me is better as you can tell them what you want and sort it out from there. Tesco and Sainsburys have cards for points they are free which are really good I save my Tesco points up and in November I have an early Christmas gift with the money vouchers Tesco send me, Sainsburys works you get points as you spend and you can use those points anytime you like to use off your shop, again I save up mine for when I want to buy something “special” as Sainsburys owns Argos you can use it there, boots and Superdrug are the same and yes I have those as well some on my mobile but most in card form. We join any hotel membership which is free to join and use but we have not bothered with retaining our Quantas or British Airways points card as we use other cheaper airlines, you can “book” excellent holiday bargains for overseas in advance or last min. I hope all goes well for you and wish you all the best in your exciting new journey.

Pollyana

I keep thinking of all the things I had to do when I moved here, and thats helped me put the list together.
Thanks for the info on the cards, very handy!
I'm going to let Qantas go when I've used up all the points on hotel bookings etc, but I'm a bit of a sucker for comfortable travel, especially Lounge access, its so handy when flights are delayed, and I also have friends who are BA crew, so I will be flying with BA a bit at least, though some of my European trips will probably be with cheaper airlines, Vueling to Spain for example.

ianandhelena

If you'll be buying a house when you go back, these sites may help:

utilities: https://www.pleaseconnectme.co.uk/services/

flood risk: https://www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk

japanese knotweed: https://horticulture.co.uk/japanese-knotweed/

locality info:https://niceareas.co.uk/

tdrinker

If you have any spare cash to invest, consider doing so via an ISA, as the income and capital gains from ISA's are tax-free. ISA's are restricted to UK residents, can hold cash or other investments (e.g. shares or bonds) and are restricted to £20k per tax year. The tax year is 6 April - 5 April, so as you are arriving in the UK in early March, if you are quick you can invest £20k for the 2022/23 tax year (ending 5 April 2023) and again after 6 April for the 2023/24 tax year.

Pollyana

OK, thanks, never wandered into the ISA world before but might be worth it now. The cash won't be "spare" as such, it'll be the entire contents of my super fund coming with me and has to be invested somewhere, but putting some into ISAs might be a good idea.

Pollyana

For anyone following on behind me on the trip home, some updates.

Shipping -Chess have so far been great, very helpful, excellent staff that did the uplift in Brisbane. 🤞🏻 just got to hope its as good the other end.
Seven Seas -airfreighting a bag with them, good customer service but their online system is a nightmare, needs much patience and a lot of wine.
Keys to the rental in Aus went back today & I’m in a motel for a few days. Bond cleaners were great, kerbside collection took most of the old furniture. The bins for the 7 units in my block took the rest 😂

Red Energy promise final bills by next week. I got the regular quarterly gas bill last week, and it has gone uo by a third, so anyone saying energy costs here aren’t rising, is deluded ( Aus forum last week, can’t remember who)

Successfully rented a flat whilst still in Australia, the agents did videos as well as the original photos so I could see everything, even videoed inside cupboards etc. I just have to confirm the inventory when I arrive next week, and they are aware of arrival date etc and that the inventory won’t be confirmed till then. Very helpful with confirming finances, and talking things through. Anyone going to the Brighton area, I can thoroughly recommend Sawyer & Co of Hove.

Finance-wise, money was moved with OFX to Lloyds, took 24 hours, just took one call to OFX to set it up, one to ANZ in Aus to confirm it was really me moving it, and all done.Much easier than expected.

Aussie phone contract converted to PAYG so I retain the number to finalise tax, banks etc,
UK phone needs a higher data contract but can’t fix that till I arrive.

Friendly local bed shop I remember from years ago are attempting to get basic furntiure delivered within a week, to lessen hotel time, and will assemble furniture for a small cash payment -that sort of thing is important as a singleton with arthritis.Excellent service, shout &recommendation for Brighton Bed Co Ltd

Tesco and Aamazon deliveries lined up,all the essentials within 2-3 days of arrival.I can literally sit in the hotel at Heathrow on Sunday and order everything currently in the shopping baskets from there, be set up pretty much 3 days later. Prime already in place, clubcard now active. Interested to see I can do Morrisons through Amazon, some prices are cheaper than Tesco, but not all, so I’ll use both.

Poll tax, very easy to sign up for online, same with TV licence (OMG the BBC with no VPN and buffering issues!!). Water is proving an issue but I think its their website, supply is there, they just can’t get the bill sent right 😄 No gas, for electric I am just going with EON who are there at present, can rethink later if necessary.

Contents insurance - to my amusement Saga were the cheapest, never thought I,d be using them, but here goes, I’m old now, I guess!!

Bus tickets already bought - Brighton, and probably other cities, now do mobile tickets, buy in advance & just activate when you need them, then show the ticket on your phone when boarding. I have a 3 month ticket, so cheap travel.

Football, taxis etc still to be investigated, next week 😱

Any questions, I will do my best to answer, either now or next week.

Nearly there, freedom is so close I can almost touch it.........