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Moving to UK after 43 years

Moving to UK after 43 years

Old Sep 7th 2008, 4:06 pm
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Default Moving to UK after 43 years

Hi.

I am considering moving to the UK indefinitely next year after 43 years in Australia and I have never been back. Now I am retired I plan to make a 'journey of a lifetime" My plan is overland from Singapore mainly train.

What advice can people give me eg.
Banks - is it that difficult to open a UK account?
NHS - who do I see when I get there?
Pension - Who pays it Centrelink or UK Pensions?
I will probably base at Hinckley, Leics but what cost for cheap accommodation?
Any other things I should know?

Bob....
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Old Sep 7th 2008, 4:19 pm
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Good luck to find a train service.
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Old Sep 8th 2008, 2:12 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by jakamarra
Hi.

I am considering moving to the UK indefinitely next year after 43 years in Australia and I have never been back. Now I am retired I plan to make a 'journey of a lifetime" My plan is overland from Singapore mainly train.

What advice can people give me eg.
Banks - is it that difficult to open a UK account?
NHS - who do I see when I get there?
Pension - Who pays it Centrelink or UK Pensions?
I will probably base at Hinckley, Leics but what cost for cheap accommodation?
Any other things I should know?

Bob....
If you still have your National Insurance Number, that would help for pensions, etc.
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Old Sep 8th 2008, 2:39 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by jakamarra
Hi.

I am considering moving to the UK indefinitely next year after 43 years in Australia and I have never been back. Now I am retired I plan to make a 'journey of a lifetime" My plan is overland from Singapore mainly train.

What advice can people give me eg.
Banks - is it that difficult to open a UK account?
NHS - who do I see when I get there?
Pension - Who pays it Centrelink or UK Pensions?
I will probably base at Hinckley, Leics but what cost for cheap accommodation?
Any other things I should know?

Bob....
Seems more than a little bit of an ungrounded decision. Why not go back for a visit first, despite the cost, wouldn't that be a) wise and b) in your best interests ?
Going back after such a long time away - you may feel as though you've landed on mars.
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Old Sep 8th 2008, 3:16 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Well seeing there are plenty of people who travel the other way after over 40 years in one country - good on you with your adventure.

Banks - is it that difficult to open a UK account? If you have a perm base in the UK and a proven income should not be a problem, maybe contact them now and see what the basic requirements are - choose one like HSBC who have branches in more than one country

NHS - who do I see when I get there? Like a previous poster said sort out your NI number first this will help with with the pension etc

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/ni_number.asp

Pension - Who pays it Centrelink or UK Pensions? see above

I will probably base at Hinckley, Leics but what cost for cheap accommodation? No idea but think you need to look at a room in a house if looking for cheap. Check out the local papers on line for the area. Or local seach for estate agents should give you some idea.

Any other things I should know? In my opinion this is big step if looking to retire in a new country on your own it can be hard work building the contacts back up at any age but most have work or a small family to start them off - have you got any contacts in the area you are looking at to start finding out about local activities and clubs.

Have fun
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Old Sep 8th 2008, 6:03 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Thanks everyone for all the replies. I may have confused issues by including my travel plans. Surprisingly train from Singapore to London is not that difficult many are doing it.

OK I have my NHS number and they actually pay me 42p per week in Graduated Pensions yearly. Up to date I have found the telephone service to the Pension Service in the UK far from helpful. Full of niceties and no information.

So on arrival who do I see and notify?

Interesting about how often HSBC comes up. I bank with HSBC in Australia. They seem very helpful on national issues but when I needed to replace a damaged card in Malaysia they were far from helpful. They kept asking for forms to to faxed which I did.They said the KL branch could not help and not to go to them. I finally did that and they leaised with Sydney and everyting fixed in a day.

I will be visiting the Brisbane Branch on Thursday so I will see what happens.

Thanks

Bob...
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Old Sep 8th 2008, 6:43 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by jakamarra
Hi.

I am considering moving to the UK indefinitely next year after 43 years in Australia and I have never been back. Now I am retired I plan to make a 'journey of a lifetime" My plan is overland from Singapore mainly train.

What advice can people give me eg.
Banks - is it that difficult to open a UK account?
NHS - who do I see when I get there?
Pension - Who pays it Centrelink or UK Pensions?
I will probably base at Hinckley, Leics but what cost for cheap accommodation?
Any other things I should know?

Bob....
Wow !! 43 years!

GoodLuck with that!!
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Old Sep 8th 2008, 7:18 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Gosh, 43 years, Bob, you give me hope!

Let us know how you get on - sorry I have no idea about the issues you raised but I sure hope all goes swimmingly for you.
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 9:56 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by Sandra
Banks - is it that difficult to open a UK account? If you have a perm base in the UK and a proven income should not be a problem, maybe contact them now and see what the basic requirements are - choose one like HSBC who have branches in more than one country
The problem you may find is that banks are suspicious of people that do not have a prior banking history and not keen to provide them with an account. Particularily somebody who is in their late 40's or older. You may also find that getting a debit or credit card will prove difficult.
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 11:27 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

I think someone else has rrsearched this and Natwest can offer a basic account which gets a bit less basic as your history improves.
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 3:31 pm
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by jakamarra
Thanks everyone for all the replies. I may have confused issues by including my travel plans. Surprisingly train from Singapore to London is not that difficult many are doing it.

OK I have my NHS number and they actually pay me 42p per week in Graduated Pensions yearly. Up to date I have found the telephone service to the Pension Service in the UK far from helpful. Full of niceties and no information.

So on arrival who do I see and notify?

Interesting about how often HSBC comes up. I bank with HSBC in Australia. They seem very helpful on national issues but when I needed to replace a damaged card in Malaysia they were far from helpful. They kept asking for forms to to faxed which I did.They said the KL branch could not help and not to go to them. I finally did that and they leaised with Sydney and everyting fixed in a day.

I will be visiting the Brisbane Branch on Thursday so I will see what happens.

Thanks

Bob...
Hi Jackammara and good luck with your jouney to the UK. You may find this web site very helpful.

www.seat61.com

Ian ( in Turkey )
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 6:29 pm
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Good luck Jakamarra in your adventure! You'll be fine.

As for accommodation, are you looking for a small flat to rent, for instance? My sense is that rentals are easy to come by these days and, with the web, easy to research from afar. There are many sites but a good one is globrix
http://www.globrix.com/
I just looked up Hinckley in the rental section of Globrix, and found loads of flats from 300 pounds a month and up.
As for banks, the trick is you have to have a place to live before you attempt to open an account. Then, you show them your passport, electricity (or similar) bill etc... you need to prove your identity and address before you can open the account.
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 7:03 pm
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

If you are not going back until next year you could do what many folks do and open an offshore bank account now. When you get to UK and have and address etc you can transfer the account UK with apparently not much difficulty. Banks to consider are Lloyds TBS and HSBC, but do a search and you will find some.

Not been back in 43 years! As somebody said above why not go back for a few months and see what you think. You can probably get a furnished flat on a 6 month lease or a holiday flat/apartment. Get a feel for the place.
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Old Sep 9th 2008, 10:24 pm
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by Sarah
Seems more than a little bit of an ungrounded decision. Why not go back for a visit first, despite the cost, wouldn't that be a) wise and b) in your best interests ?
Going back after such a long time away - you may feel as though you've landed on mars.
Oi im Martian and take great offence to that.
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Old Sep 10th 2008, 8:18 am
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Default Re: Moving to UK after 43 years

Originally Posted by jakamarra
Pension - Who pays it Centrelink or UK Pensions?
You'll only be entitled to the UK state pension if you've paid sufficient National Insurance Contributions. As you've been out of the UK for 43 years, I doubt you've paid any/sufficient NI contributions.

The Australian state pension is means-tested and you need to be living in Australia to get it (or in an "agreement country", but the UK isn't one of those). So, if you move to the UK you can't get that either.

If you have Australian superannuation benefits, you can continue to get these paid into your Oz bank account and transfer them to a UK bank account. For transferring small amounts check out "tranzfers":www.tranzfers.com

Gina
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