Our moving back experience
#16
aussie married to a brit!
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 302
Re: Our moving back experience
Great review.
Re car insurance, not all insurers accept letters of experience, as I was told by Swinton but the guy I dealt with at Swinton was superb and got me a deal with Aviva. I am paying £367 a year ... he wanted me to take it monthly but I balked at paying the credit ... so he gave me a cash back which covered the credit costs. I was paying around £900 a year in Canada before I came back and that was in my fourth year of insurance!!!
I wanted an automatic but settled for manual as I had driven manual most of my life ... the narrow roads are a little nervewracking and living in a rural area, I had forgotten about the tractors on the road!
Regarding 0845 numbers, if you go on a lot of the websites, they will have a number for international callers which is a regular number. I have a friend who always finds that number and calls it from the UK and he says he avoids paying the premium charges.
One thing I have noticed is the amount of delivery vans and couriers around and about due to online shopping. I must confess that I have found online shopping a real plus as I live in a small town. Amazon in particular has come up trumps for many things, including .... believe it or not .... bread flour! They are in partnershp with a mill and offer free delivery and, if you subscribe to a regular order (you decide how often you want an autodelivery) you get an extra 10% off!! Great range and best prices I could find anywhere.
I do agree it does feel great to be in Great Britain in 2012. I am loving being back home and after 3 1/2 years away, I have just slipped back into my previous life as if I have been away for a 2 week holiday! Was it all just a dream? ....
Re car insurance, not all insurers accept letters of experience, as I was told by Swinton but the guy I dealt with at Swinton was superb and got me a deal with Aviva. I am paying £367 a year ... he wanted me to take it monthly but I balked at paying the credit ... so he gave me a cash back which covered the credit costs. I was paying around £900 a year in Canada before I came back and that was in my fourth year of insurance!!!
I wanted an automatic but settled for manual as I had driven manual most of my life ... the narrow roads are a little nervewracking and living in a rural area, I had forgotten about the tractors on the road!
Regarding 0845 numbers, if you go on a lot of the websites, they will have a number for international callers which is a regular number. I have a friend who always finds that number and calls it from the UK and he says he avoids paying the premium charges.
One thing I have noticed is the amount of delivery vans and couriers around and about due to online shopping. I must confess that I have found online shopping a real plus as I live in a small town. Amazon in particular has come up trumps for many things, including .... believe it or not .... bread flour! They are in partnershp with a mill and offer free delivery and, if you subscribe to a regular order (you decide how often you want an autodelivery) you get an extra 10% off!! Great range and best prices I could find anywhere.
I do agree it does feel great to be in Great Britain in 2012. I am loving being back home and after 3 1/2 years away, I have just slipped back into my previous life as if I have been away for a 2 week holiday! Was it all just a dream? ....
#17
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 745
Re: Our moving back experience
Re: car insurance in UK,
Online quotes ask if applicant has been resident in UK since birth, or state the date of entry to country. This seems to miss out those that have been expats. I enquired of Churchill Insurance and they said as long as applicant was born in UK then don't worry that you were not UK resident while expat.
Also it strikes me as odd that UK car insurances start at midnight and expire at midday on the same date 1 year later. This means there is an overlap of 12 hours.
Some car insurance companies will include an automatic renewal and debit/credit card deduction for the following year unless you specifically call them at the time to stop it. If you don't remember and choose to go elsewhere next year then you can end up with two insurances and cancellation fees.
Online quotes ask if applicant has been resident in UK since birth, or state the date of entry to country. This seems to miss out those that have been expats. I enquired of Churchill Insurance and they said as long as applicant was born in UK then don't worry that you were not UK resident while expat.
Also it strikes me as odd that UK car insurances start at midnight and expire at midday on the same date 1 year later. This means there is an overlap of 12 hours.
Some car insurance companies will include an automatic renewal and debit/credit card deduction for the following year unless you specifically call them at the time to stop it. If you don't remember and choose to go elsewhere next year then you can end up with two insurances and cancellation fees.
Last edited by J.JsOH; Jun 22nd 2012 at 11:12 am.
#18
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 837
Re: Our moving back experience
Admiral and elephant said 10 years was too long and I couldn't tick "from birth"
My insurance cover could be timed to the minute
My insurance cover could be timed to the minute
#19
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2011
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 983
Re: Our moving back experience
I tried recently to get temporary car insurance and was told that you have to have lived in the UK for the last three years in order to get temporary cover to drive someone elses car. (Cue shouts of derision from my family about why I didnt tell them a fib!)
#20
Every day's a school day
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Was Calgary back in Edmonton again !!
Posts: 2,667
#21
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 745
Re: Our moving back experience
Even though we been back 2 years I feel I am still behind the curve; the info re: 0845 is good to know.
Thanks
Thanks
#22
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 837
Re: Our moving back experience
Must be dependant on the insurer. I got covered on my mums car over Christmas with no problem. And wrote it off, at which point they would have found out any fibs and caused real problems.They really care about the info you gave if you have a claim.
#23
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2011
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 983
Re: Our moving back experience
I know, but couldnt convince my family that you cant just feed them any old rubbish. Glad you had a good experience, though!
#24
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Northwest
Posts: 41
Re: Our moving back experience
[QUOTE=Moving back has been far smoother and restores my faith in our ability to weather whatever storm is brewing and just get on with it QUOTE]
Wow, I have been inspired by your post. Our family has weathered many a storm in our nearly 3 yrs of living in Australia. Ultimately, we have chalked it all down as an "EXPERIENCE" but have finally decided to move back home. It took nearly 2 yrs of planning to get here and 6 weeks to plan the move back. Very daunting but am just getting on with it. I have hit a few snags, namely with our old school asking for proof of address in the school zone. No address, no school place! No jobs, no home and no car yet either. All that will eventually come right though. What I do have is the happiness I feel about moving back, the support and love from my wonderful family looking forward to our return, the joy on my children's faces when they speak about seeing their grandparents and aunts and the excitement of seeing my dear friends again.
So, we are booking a one way flight for end August and the next chapter in our lives begins....
Wow, I have been inspired by your post. Our family has weathered many a storm in our nearly 3 yrs of living in Australia. Ultimately, we have chalked it all down as an "EXPERIENCE" but have finally decided to move back home. It took nearly 2 yrs of planning to get here and 6 weeks to plan the move back. Very daunting but am just getting on with it. I have hit a few snags, namely with our old school asking for proof of address in the school zone. No address, no school place! No jobs, no home and no car yet either. All that will eventually come right though. What I do have is the happiness I feel about moving back, the support and love from my wonderful family looking forward to our return, the joy on my children's faces when they speak about seeing their grandparents and aunts and the excitement of seeing my dear friends again.
So, we are booking a one way flight for end August and the next chapter in our lives begins....
#25
Re: Our moving back experience
[QUOTE=springoz;10171058]
Wow, I have been inspired by your post. Our family has weathered many a storm in our nearly 3 yrs of living in Australia. Ultimately, we have chalked it all down as an "EXPERIENCE" but have finally decided to move back home. It took nearly 2 yrs of planning to get here and 6 weeks to plan the move back. Very daunting but am just getting on with it. I have hit a few snags, namely with our old school asking for proof of address in the school zone. No address, no school place! No jobs, no home and no car yet either. All that will eventually come right though. What I do have is the happiness I feel about moving back, the support and love from my wonderful family looking forward to our return, the joy on my children's faces when they speak about seeing their grandparents and aunts and the excitement of seeing my dear friends again.
So, we are booking a one way flight for end August and the next chapter in our lives begins....
Good for you, we are also going back at the end of August, with no jobs, no home and no car. I keep saying to myself, I came to Canada with none of the above and I can do it all again, however this time I have the support of family and friends.
I hope it works out for you.
Originally Posted by Moving back has been far smoother and restores my faith in our ability to weather whatever storm is brewing and just get on with it QUOTE
Wow, I have been inspired by your post. Our family has weathered many a storm in our nearly 3 yrs of living in Australia. Ultimately, we have chalked it all down as an "EXPERIENCE" but have finally decided to move back home. It took nearly 2 yrs of planning to get here and 6 weeks to plan the move back. Very daunting but am just getting on with it. I have hit a few snags, namely with our old school asking for proof of address in the school zone. No address, no school place! No jobs, no home and no car yet either. All that will eventually come right though. What I do have is the happiness I feel about moving back, the support and love from my wonderful family looking forward to our return, the joy on my children's faces when they speak about seeing their grandparents and aunts and the excitement of seeing my dear friends again.
So, we are booking a one way flight for end August and the next chapter in our lives begins....
I hope it works out for you.
#26
Banned
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: The REAL Utopia.
Posts: 9,910
Re: Our moving back experience
I am surprised to hear that, maybe the situation is different when coming from Canada because you drive on the other side so you are considered a higher risk ? I know that sounds crazy but we had absolutely no problem and probably 75% of companies would accept my Australian no claims. We went with Co Op Eco Insurance in the end and they didnt even want to see my proof of no claims.
One major setback in my limited time back here was car insurance. I heard that the prices had gone up but realised that they couldn't have ever reached the criminal rates that the ICBC insurance cartel in Vancouver charged. And I'm right in this regard. However when I'd read on here about people not getting their no claims discount honoured, I underestimated how bad the problem is. I just assumed that these were isolated cases where perhaps the insurer had misheard, and was not anticipating any issue myself. THe fact is that almost EVERY insurer will not honour your no claims discount, which for a country as well tied to Britain as Canada is, is disgusting. I feel like asking them whether I can disregard my 10 DUI offences, and I'm sure when it benefits them they'd be all ears to push my policy rates through the universe. I'm kidding about the DUI but I can just imagine they'd want you to declare your negative history but won't give you any credit for your positive. A scam in other words. I have searched this site and glad that some companies do honour NCD. But to be honest if you search the lowest cost insurers based on a 0 NCD and those where you have 6 years NCD but a recorded accident (someone I'd leant my car to in my case), there is not an appreciable difference in cost. Makes me wonder whether I just start my NCD from scratch. Going with a company that gives me credit for it will only work if I stick by them. Any other company will expect all NCD I'm claiming to be UK earned. So getting an insurance company to honour my 6 years and then at renewal make this up to 7, will still only effectively gain me one year NCD in UK according to most of the insurers. Saying all of this, even with ZERO NCD it's still way cheaper in UK than Canada and the insurance cover even with the cheapest and nastiest insurer is infinitely superior to the best cover through the ICBC mafia.
One major setback in my limited time back here was car insurance. I heard that the prices had gone up but realised that they couldn't have ever reached the criminal rates that the ICBC insurance cartel in Vancouver charged. And I'm right in this regard. However when I'd read on here about people not getting their no claims discount honoured, I underestimated how bad the problem is. I just assumed that these were isolated cases where perhaps the insurer had misheard, and was not anticipating any issue myself. THe fact is that almost EVERY insurer will not honour your no claims discount, which for a country as well tied to Britain as Canada is, is disgusting. I feel like asking them whether I can disregard my 10 DUI offences, and I'm sure when it benefits them they'd be all ears to push my policy rates through the universe. I'm kidding about the DUI but I can just imagine they'd want you to declare your negative history but won't give you any credit for your positive. A scam in other words. I have searched this site and glad that some companies do honour NCD. But to be honest if you search the lowest cost insurers based on a 0 NCD and those where you have 6 years NCD but a recorded accident (someone I'd leant my car to in my case), there is not an appreciable difference in cost. Makes me wonder whether I just start my NCD from scratch. Going with a company that gives me credit for it will only work if I stick by them. Any other company will expect all NCD I'm claiming to be UK earned. So getting an insurance company to honour my 6 years and then at renewal make this up to 7, will still only effectively gain me one year NCD in UK according to most of the insurers. Saying all of this, even with ZERO NCD it's still way cheaper in UK than Canada and the insurance cover even with the cheapest and nastiest insurer is infinitely superior to the best cover through the ICBC mafia.
#27
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Okotoks, AB
Posts: 4
Re: Our moving back experience
We are another family moving back home from calgary in September, we have been planning it for about a year now and can't believe that its only six weeks to go. We are really excited about going home but the amount of work still to do is daunting! Thanks for all your great comments and advise
#28
Re: Our moving back experience
We are another family moving back home from calgary in September, we have been planning it for about a year now and can't believe that its only six weeks to go. We are really excited about going home but the amount of work still to do is daunting! Thanks for all your great comments and advise
#29
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2012
Location: Plymouth, UK
Posts: 9
Re: Our moving back experience
We have lived in Canada for about 45 years and are finally going "home" to finish out our retirement. The planning for this has been very daunting, particularly the tax implications associated with investments and pensions.
Finally it appears that once we have established ourselves back in the UK and have "severed all ties" with Canada (still will have Canadian citizenship) the Canadian Tax authorities will deem us "non residents for tax purposes". What this means is that any bulk withdrawls from our pension plans will have taxes capped at 25%. Also, our Canadian Pension and OAS will be 0% tax (although I expect the UK government will tax me) because of the tax treaty between Canada and the UK. The real headache is getting any withdrawls (regular monthly amouns or bulk amounts) from RBC to an account in the UK - we are supposed to close bank accounts (where possible!) to be recognized as non-residents.
The only way we have found it possible to open a bank account in the UK before getting there is to open an account with HSBC in Canada and they will open an HSBC account in out home town in the UK (this takes about 4 weeks and lots of paperwork - which they did for us) ..... just waiting to receive our debit card and account info at the moment.
We are selling practically all our furnishings, just transporting clothes, china and personal effects. After contacting a few moving companies for specific info, by far the most helpful response we received was from AMJ International, who we will be using.
We are hoping to arrive in the UK just before Christmas. We are in the process of buying an apartment there .... a whole set of added complications doing it remotely, but it will allow us to "hit the ground running".
Even at this late stage, I would appreciate feedback from those that have gone before.
Finally it appears that once we have established ourselves back in the UK and have "severed all ties" with Canada (still will have Canadian citizenship) the Canadian Tax authorities will deem us "non residents for tax purposes". What this means is that any bulk withdrawls from our pension plans will have taxes capped at 25%. Also, our Canadian Pension and OAS will be 0% tax (although I expect the UK government will tax me) because of the tax treaty between Canada and the UK. The real headache is getting any withdrawls (regular monthly amouns or bulk amounts) from RBC to an account in the UK - we are supposed to close bank accounts (where possible!) to be recognized as non-residents.
The only way we have found it possible to open a bank account in the UK before getting there is to open an account with HSBC in Canada and they will open an HSBC account in out home town in the UK (this takes about 4 weeks and lots of paperwork - which they did for us) ..... just waiting to receive our debit card and account info at the moment.
We are selling practically all our furnishings, just transporting clothes, china and personal effects. After contacting a few moving companies for specific info, by far the most helpful response we received was from AMJ International, who we will be using.
We are hoping to arrive in the UK just before Christmas. We are in the process of buying an apartment there .... a whole set of added complications doing it remotely, but it will allow us to "hit the ground running".
Even at this late stage, I would appreciate feedback from those that have gone before.
#30
Re: Our moving back experience
Good luck with your move. We have been back for two months after over 30 years in Canada. We were advised that we can keep a bank account open and that is what we have done. To transfer bulk amounts from RBC to our HSBC account I plan to write a cheque to myself and send it to my contact at our HSBC Calgary branch. it will then be deposited into our Cdn funds acct in Calgary and then I can transfer it to my GBP acct whenever I want. I did visit RBC, before leaving, and asked if they would transfer funds from RBC to HSBC, when required and the answer was no. Hence the reason I am using the old fashioned cheque method.
Long term, I am hoping to open a Cdn funds acct with HSBC UK and have my CPP etc, deposited there, when the time comes.
If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
Long term, I am hoping to open a Cdn funds acct with HSBC UK and have my CPP etc, deposited there, when the time comes.
If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.