rebecca1986

Hi all,

After 7 years living in Canada, we have made the decision to move back to the UK.

I've done some research but I'm not really coming up with much.
My question is, for anyone else who has done this, what's the best way of transferring large amounts of money from Canada back to the UK?
Does anyone know whether it is possible to do it via a bank account in HSBC?

Thankful for any insights!

MidAtlantic

Money transfer companies normally give much better value than main-line banks, although for a large amount bank dealing desks are worth checking. Here's a list of the main players:
https://moneytransfercomparison.com/

When making comparisons take care to check any fees and the exchange rate being used.

Benson55

Go into a HSBC branch and talk to them there are accounts you can open and they will transfer but the details keep changing.

pquick

Hi Rebecca
We too are hoping to return to uk this year.
We have lived 9 years in Ontario.
Where are you moving from and to?
Things seem much less easy organising from here than leaving uk originally!!

rebecca1986

Oh really?! What's making you guys want to return?
We are moving from Vancouver and returning to Liverpool for a few years. It's still all quite stressful trying to sell things and realising we'll be leaving ourselves without cars etc but I think because we've done this before it's not quite as daunting!

durham_lad

Both ourselves and our son used HSBC to move large sums from the USA to buy houses in England in 2016 & 17. Sounds like you are already with HSBC so ask them if you open an account in the UK ahead of time.

pquick

Hi!
Moving back to DURHAM as I have never been happy over here....hubby loves the summers, but I find it too hot , and really just dont have a life here.
There is an HSBC here...so I too can find out about transfer fees.
In the process of preparing house for market.....just quite a
worry now because of change of mortgage rates and the state of the dollar

rebecca1986

Yes, it's not the best time to be doing it!
I asked in HSBC yesterday but they said unless we had over $100,000 to transfer then it was a no-go!

durham_lad

That is such a pain. With us and a year later our son we sold up and put our house sale money in HSBC to get over that threshold. Once in the UK we used that money to buy a house and didn’t need Premier status anymore but I realise that is not an option for many.

PrairieWriter

So, we need to get on board with HSBC as well, again to move money at some stage this year. We'd like to pick a moment to transfer dollars into pounds, preferably before some kind of currency value...problem (see long-term dollar forecast for 2019, Donald Trump's idiotic tweets affecting the market etc.). Has anyone set up an HSBC account abroad (either Jersey, Guernsey or the UK) over the phone/online? We're in the midwest, so there aren't any physical branches near us at all.

durham_lad

The lack of physical branches is what prevented my son doing this as there is a requirement to appear in person to prove id while signing papers. He then moved to England first and had to open an account locally which took a week or two and we had to provide a signed letter saying that he was living with us otherwise it would have taken longer putting together proof of address.

I did it the opposite way, opened an HSBC account in the USA from England and also had to visit a branch in England to sign paperwork and show passports etc.

Johnboyuk

You need to open an 'International Account' for non UK residents with one of the major UK banks, for example:

https://international.lloydsbank.com/

https://wealth.barclays.com/en_gb/ho...k-account.html


Remember, when using a currency transfer company, your money is not protected if they go out of business when your money is in the transfer process.