robskatie

I kept my account with Halifax open and use a relatives address in the UK I had a nightmare with them recently, they had sent a letter to my old address that was returned to them, they then put a hold on my account and when I called they told me it would only be taken off if I went into a branch with proof of ID, eventually got it sorted out but took me 3 calls to do so.
Maybe would be a good idea to have a parent added onto the account so they could go in for you if you have any problems.

dbj1000

Does anyone have any proof of this?

When we moved, I informed NatWest of our US address and also gave my parents power of attorney over our accounts. NatWest send us a quarterly statement if there is no account activity, or a monthly statement in months when there's a transaction on our accounts.

We've been here nearly 4 years now, and in that time neither my wife nor I have used our NatWest credit cards, but they both still show to be active on the NatWest online banking site. Since NatWest hasn't sent me anything to say that the cards are "dead through non-use", I'm guessing that Elvira is... guessing.

Ray

One of my UK was cancelled because of non-use.... can't remember which one..and another which was MBNA I had to pay a small annual fee to keep it active ..

Jerseygirl

Yes my Nat West card was cancelled after approx. 5yrs of inactivity...I just called them and it was re-instated.

Big D

barclaycard stopped mine through non use - no big loss as they have become very uncompetative.

While some financial insitutions are happy to keep accounts open if you move, some are not - especially if you you have loans or cards. If you stop paying them back then it is difficult for them to enforce the debt. I never told anyone and the statements etc get redirected in the mail.

Elvira

No, darling, I am not

I kept one of my bank accounts registered at my old address but did not use it for a few years. When the debit card came up for renewal, they sent me a cashcard instead. When I called to enquire I was told that my account had been downgraded to a 'basic' account due to inactivity.

A basic account is as good to me as no account as you can do F-All with it.

Philgr

One thing many of us should probably consider that I haven't seen discussed here is death duty. If the Inland Revenue can show domicile in the UK they will try to claim taxes from your estate. UK bank accounts, credit cards, cell phones etc have apparently all been used in the past as a way to show this.

I gather that the tax treaty doesn't cover death duty so you could be leaving your heirs less than you think if you leave accounts in the UK.

Disclaimer - This was pointed out to me by a mixed marriage (USC/UKC) friend who works in this field but I haven't done anything with the knowledge yet so I'm very hazy on the details - if anyone knows more I'd be very interested to hear it.

Elvira

I can probably cope without the death duty dosh when I'm dead, but I'd have some difficulty managing without UK accounts while I'm alive...

Bob

depends on the bank...HSBC want activity every quarterly, so I've a deposit bouncing around, either that or it's something like £5 fee.

neil

I've not had a problem with Egg, but I suspect I have used my card a couple of times a year either in the UK, or for ordering from amazon uk (but delivering to the US). Actually, there have been a few times when I haven't used my card for a while (probably 6 months or so) and they've sent me an email that if I use it to make purchases of £50 or more in the next month and they'll give me £10 credit so I've taken advantage of that. The only time my parents got a call was when I hadn't used it for a while and then used it in Prague - my dad told them that I was in Prague at the time and that was that. It might help that I have a few grand in an Egg savings account too.

JAJ

If the main assets are not in the UK and the will is not probated in the UK, how on earth will the Inland Revenue even know about the estate, let alone enforce United Kingdom laws in a foreign jurisdiction?

One work-around is to move sterling accounts to banks in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands.

In any case, retention of a bank account in the United Kingdom does not necessarily preclude acquisition of a foreign domicile. And as noted, even if the Inland Revenue could "win" that argument it's not at all clear how the Inland Revenue would have any basis to tax a foreign-located estate without the co-operation of the local authorities.

Brync

Hi there,

I gave my UK bank and UK credit card companies my US address and there isn't a problem. The credit card companies even send an "international" repayment envelope with their statements.

Cheers

Brync

Philgr

No idea - as I said, my friend, who is a City banker and has looked into this for his own situation, says there is case law on it and a slight danger that it can happen. He advised taking the UKC off our UK accounts and just holding them in the name of the USC. Domicile is certainly not unitary in the eyes of the IR - so proving domicile somewhere else isn't the same as proving you are (were) not domiciled in the UK.

rincewind

Like most have already replied, no issues. Just keep them informed of your address.

I even took out a UK loan with my Credit Card company (a little debt while waiting for my EAD then GC) while in the US. As long as you have accounts through them, it's not a problem.

Jerseygirl

We still have a hefty overdraft facility with our bank...never used it but it's still available.