Stelly

So, I'm trying to work this out in terms of making the move smoother. It looks likely I'll start my UK based job next month so I need a bank account for them to pay me into. I closed my Natwest account in 2013.

So far it seems that the UK wants:

1. arrive
2. sign a lease with a letting agency or solicitor using money you pulled from you cash pocket
3. get all your utilities set up and sending you paper statements
4. get your driving license (don't think about the months long wait for this)
5. get insurance and buy a car (again, pot of cash)
6. open a bank account using proof of address in the form of your lease or new utility bill

In reality I need to do it

1. get bank account
2. arrive
3. get a car, insure the car (can you even do this on US license?)
4. sign a lease (using UK bank account)
5. set up utilities
6. reactivate driving license

How has everyone else managed this?

My parents are willing to help, and have let me use their address for my spouse's visa application, and are more than happy for me to stay for a bit and use their address for post, but I've already fallen at the first hurdle with getting a bank account open as Starling want proof of address for their house and I have nothing other than a statement from Natwest 2013. It's really awkward that I'm not going to physically be in the UK until November probably (and my employers know this), but that means in the interim I can't open an insured account. And really, even if I flew over to open an account, I STILL can't as I wouldn't have proof of address even if standing there with my parents in a bank branch. UGH. And the bank only want a lease from letting agency, so an AirBnB booking isn't going to cut it. Even a lease from my parents isn't going to work.

I work all the time with people relocating to the US and it's so much easier for them to open a bank account before they have a signed lease.

Lion in Winter

I can't answer all your questions, but I can tell you what we did:

In reality I need to do it

1. get bank account - next to impossible, so I opened an account with Wise, all done online. They give you a sort code and an account number and your employer can pay into it as normal.
2. arrive - yup, did that Once actually landed in the UK with a UK phone, Lloyds did open an account for me online without proof of address. All other banks wanted proof of address that I didn't yet have.
3. get a car, insure the car (can you even do this on US license?) - haven't done it yet, but yes you can do it. I understanding insuring on a US license will cost a bit more.
4. sign a lease (using UK bank account) - I did this using proof of employment and paid the first month and deposit from the Wise account, no issues
5. set up utilities - I used a company called Please Connect Me who did all of this for me. It's free to use (presumably they get a commission.) They sorted me out with power, internet and the Council.
6. reactivate driving license - can't help here, I will have to take a driving test since a US license isn't worth the paper it's written on here.

Stelly

Thanks. Yes, I think I'm just going to have to use Wise and hope my massive (hahaha) income doesn't disappear into clouds if they go bad.

I'm glad to hear they do allow US license for insurance. I'm hoping to go over early Nov on a business trip, buy a car and sign a lease and then come back here and drag the kids back with me at that point. So presumably in the meantime I can either move funds to my friend's account and have her help me with large payments, or just hope for the best with Wise until that all important lease or utility bill arrives. Argh.

I'm lucky that I still have my license and although I let it lapse when my parents moved house and I was no longer tied to their address, I'm told it's relatively simple to get it reinstated with a new address once I'm set. And I found my no claims bonus letter from 2000, lol.

Thank you for your reply.

Lion in Winter

As a note, banks and others really want to see a letter from the Council for proof of address. They were all quite underwhelmed by my lease. Possibly worth seeing if you can get a Lloyds account up and running on your trip. You will need a UK phone number to do it, but it's all online. They want proof of your identity, but not address. Proof of identity will be your passport and a selfie taken using a link they send to your UK phone.

Stelly

Am I being super dense - did you open Wise with a UK address or US one?

Lion in Winter

Originally with my US address. I was being paid from the UK so they deposited into it from there and I moved money to my US bank.

Now that I am in the UK, I have changed the address and that all seems to be fine. They are more concerned with identity than with location.

Stelly

Thanks!

Helen1964

Ask your parents to put your name on their electricity or gas bills. This should be fairly straightforward and that way you'll have a utility bill from Day One.

Stelly

I did mention it to them, but they seem weirdly reluctant and honestly, that's going to take possibly a month to be fruitful anyway.

brits1

Can you not open a bank account with HSBC whilst overseas? we did this whilst in Aus and know many others who have been able to do this while overseas once in the UK and you want to open another bank account with a bank you may prefer rather than HSBC then in time you can do that.

Stelly

So weirdly, I work with HSBC a lot over here so reached out to them at the start of this process and it was a dead end. They sold off their US banking arm to Citizens Bank, and in the UK they have just as many regulations about proof of address as the other banks. So not an option sadly. I also have a friend who is a bank manager at major high street bank - also not an option. Frustrating.

durham_lad

Good advice above. When my son moved back to the UK he stayed with us initially and the bank, HSBC as it happens which is our bank, accepted a letter and a utility bill in our name as proof of his address.

Our daughter is moving back later this year and has already opened a Wise checking account with UK sort code and account number. I have contacted our electric supplier who are happy enough to add her to our account as soon as she arrives, and I will then ask them to issue a bill so she has proof of address in case the signed letter from us doesn’t work with the bank.

BritInParis

Give NatWest a call. They may well be able to reopen your account without proof of address as you’re a previous customer.

lds

Hello there,
Lloyds requires a UK phone number for you to open an account with them online, how did you get the UK phone number?

durham_lad

I believe there are some free options but what we did at the time was to pay for a Skype number at a visit if about $50/year. It worked great for us at the time.