Trev and Jayne

Hi All

My partner and I recieved our PR in June and are looking to go out to NZ next May/June (leaving UK Feb to travel on the way). We went to the NZ Expo in London last weekend and spoke to someone fro HiFx about transferring 10% of our money now and locking into the current exchange rate which is quite good at the moment. I know the danger is that if the exchange rate increases, you lose out and I presume this is how HiFx make money, but if this happened does anyone know if you could just use a difference money transfer company instead or are you contracted to continue to use the one you have locked into?

Any advice would be great.

thanks
Jayne

JasonSouthYorks

Hi
We locked into a rate a little while ago just before the rate went crazy and we were kicking ourselves. But that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that we used TORFX, yes thats TORFX. We sent them 10% and when the rates went up we got a call from them saying that they needed another 10%. A little miffed, I agreed to send it anyway. (We didn't really have any choice!!) Due to the credit problems and us being unable to get hold of our money for 10 days (God bless you Iceland!!) we informed TORFX and they promptly called us the next day and said that they had cancelled our deal.

You guessed it....10% GONE!!!!!!:curse:

And there was nothing we could do about.

The strange thing is, we have also used another FX company, UKFOREX or OZFOREX and they have been great (so far). They only wanted 5% deposit and despite the rates going up they did NOT come back asking for more money. We have since used them again and have been very pleased with them.

Browner_

Lost 10% of your money, that sounds dreadful, you need to make sure you read the small print!

I have been using NZFOREX and they are excellent for getting a competitive spot deal, which is completed there and then.

I cant see the point of getting future rates guaranteed if your capital is at risk!

The pound is surely only going to get stronger against the NZ dollar as the NZ dollar interest rate drops (?)

JasonSouthYorks

Unfortunately my economic crystal ball wasn't working too well at the time. I don't think anybody really thought that the rates would go quite so high.

The main reason we did it was so that our equity was earning interest in our account so we didn't pay tax on it and it was something less to worry about nearer the big move.

As it turns out, we then booked again using UKFOREX at a higher rate and clawed back most of the loss.

littleal

I would recommend Halo Financial. They are small and friendly, and take the time to explain things to you. Excellent service

Paula2007

Hi everyone
I and OH hope to apply to emigrate in March 2009 and have also been thinking of where is the safest place to stash our money. There will hopefully be the sale of our house and savings and we were going to use HiFX in the short period when we will have flown to NZ and are looking for a property to purchase.

I believe that HiFX use Barclays Bank to deposit the money of their clients - so will they only be covered by the UK Government for the first £50,000 deposit I wonder - if that is the case - we have got a problem as our house and savings will be way over that - the only other way I can think of is depositing £50,000 in unrelated Banks in the UK - until all the money is distributed and covered by the UK Government guarantee. But no idea if HiFX would do this - I suppose we will just have to keep our fingers crossed. I assume this would be a mainland account and not an off shore account?

I am very worried about where to put our hard earned cash in the pleasant climate of uncertainty with Banks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Paula

JasonSouthYorks

HIFX will place the money into a client account and you will not receive any interest on it.

You need to decide if you want to buy a forward purchase ie: locking into a rate, or buy a spot rate ie: the rate that is applicable at the time that you buy the currency.


If you buy at the spot rate, the £s will be converted to $s and then forwarded to a foreign currency account usually within a few days. The Forex company won't hold or invest your money.

Rather than use the forum for info on this, as it is quite a complicated subject and you will probably get loads of different answers and not know what is right and what is wrong, I would call some of the Forex companies and hear it from the horses mouth. One or two have very informative web sites as well which will explain the options to you.

It is also worth looking at the NZ revenue web site to check on tax implications of having a lump sum paying interest and the guarantees that are applicable.