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So it seems that I could try and renew my UK driving licence, but using it in the UK would render any insurance invalid in the case of an accident. And it appears that it is also a criminal offence to make a false declaration on the form (which you'd need to do to pretend you lived in the UK). So probably not a good option. There are companies that offer short term insurance, with the claim that it is aimed at people in my situation (ie expat visiting for a few weeks and has a car at their disposal). Except the small print then says that you need a UK, EEC or NI licence - International licences not accepted. Which is pretty unhelpful. I still need to talk to my Mum's insurance company but suspect that they will require a UK licence. Has anyone found an insurance company that will insure you in the UK on a NSW or International driving licence?

I've previously hired a car when going back to the UK for holidays / visits, but given the fact that that they are now so expensive, and also that my elderly Mum has just stopped driving,, I'm thinking for my next visit I could borrow her car to get around in. It's taxed, MOT'd etc, but I would need to sort out insurance. One option is to get my mum to put me on her insurance, or alternatively there are companies that offer short term policies. I put some details into one of these company's online quote generator and it asked me what type of licence I had - UK Full, UK Provisional or International. Which got me thinking .... I had a Full UK licence before emigrating, but it seems they expire after 10 years, and as I've been in Aus longer than that mine must have expired. I have a NSW licence, which has sufficed for hiring a car in the UK in the past. Does anyone know what licences are valid / not valid in the UK? Is there any reason a NSW licence is accepted by hire companies but doesn't seem to be by the Insurance company? Can I renew my UK driving licence from abroad easily enough? Or should I just apply for an International Driving Licence for the period of my visit? Hoping others have been in a similar position and would be interested to hear the pros/cons of the various options.

We've been living on the North Shore for 5 years now and back directly onto the bush. Can't recall seeing a cockroach in all the time we've been here, but as others have posted, the other wildlife is around (including wallabies, which eat all your plants!) and you will definitely get to see and hear it. As for bushfires, of course you've got to take the threat seriously and it's wise to keep gutters clear, have your emergency plan ready etc. But I think the risk is pretty small in the scheme of things, and certainly a small trade off for being able to walk out of the back door and wander off into bush, having all that nature around you etc.

Has anyone heard anything more on this? I received a text message from Barclays at the start of June saying that I'll need to close my account, but have heard nothing since. No letter, no messages when I log on to the online banking etc. And I'm continuing to use it without any issues. So has anyone had their account closed yet? Or been given any indication of when it might happen?

Thanks for the replies. Alan, I've taken you up on your offer and sent you an e-mail - probably time to get some formal advice!

I'm thinking of selling my (currently rented out) house in the UK and bringing the funds over to Aus. It's been rented out for 10+ years now, and I lived in it for about 15 years before moving over here. When it comes to CGT, I'm aware that I'll need to pay some, but I'm wondering if there are any tips on minimizing this. I think I'm right in saying that you can 're-base' the value of the house as at 2015 and use that as the starting point for CGT calculations (ie CGT will be based on the difference between that 2015 value and the current value). Is that correct? Anything else that's worth knowing about. And yes, I'll probably talk to a financial advisor at some point, but at this stage I just wanted to get an idea of any strategies that may be available.

I'm sure that once you've set up your account and know the process then they're fine, especially for smaller, regular amounts. But as I was trying to move a relatively large sum of money with my first transfer with them, maybe they wanted a bit more detail around it? But the big 'fail' for me was them not even reviewing the documentation I supplied until I'd put the money in their account - can't see why they couldn't do a 'pre-approval' to make sure they were happy that everything was in order before I go to the trouble of moving it into their account.

a) I already had an account set up with TorFX, had used them before and felt comfortable with depositing a large sum of money in their account. Not saying that Wise aren't trustworthy, but would prefer to deal with a company I'd already had a good experience with b) Trying to set up a transfer with Wise turned out to be a frustrating experience. They wanted to see all sorts of documentation to approve a transfer and wanted me to put the money in their account first. Only then would they review the documentation to see whether they'd approve the transfer - and I'd seen a few online reviews where this process had taken weeks.

I moved some money over recently and also used TorFX, but as Manrug did, I spoke to them and they matched the dollar amount that Wise were offering. However, the main issue that I found was getting the money into a position to transfer - my bank only let me transfer £25k per day, so I had to make a decision up front as to who I was going to use, then spent several days doing transfers to get it all into the TorFX account. If you're moving $1.5m worth, then that would take you a month or so of daily transfers to get it all in a position to move - I think there was an option to do a larger transfer, but they wanted me to go into a (UK) branch - not very practical from Sydney!

Thanks - I'm assuming then that once approved, you see the new option (of being able to pay Class 2) in the on-line portal, and pay through there? Also, another quick question. The form seems to be set up for someone living in the UK who is about to move abroad. So it asks what is your UK address. Did you just leave this blank, or put in your last UK address? As it's a postal process rather than e-mail, I don't want to have to go back and forward with them.

So to clarify, you filled out the form and sent it to them - and were then able to make Class 2 contributions? Was there anything more to it than that?

OK, thanks. Has anyone tried this? Any success?

I know this is an old thread, but the information is still pretty valid. I looked at topping up my NI contributions a while back but never got around to it. But someone mentioned to me the other day that the UK govt are making some changes, and rather than being able to top up the years from 2006 to current, at the end of this (UK) financial year, this will be changed to only being able to top up the last 6 years. However, my query is about Class 2 and Class 3 contributions, which are approx £3 per week, or £15 per week respectively. Obviously it would be preferable to pay Class 2! On the UK Gov website (https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions) it says the following:- Living and working abroad Class 2 - but only if you worked in the UK immediately before leaving, and you’ve previously lived in the UK for at least 3 years in a row or paid at least 3 years of contributions As I fit the criteria, I should be able to pay Class 2. However, if I go online and try and pay them, it wants to charge me £824 for a year. Has anyone else topped up their NI contributions with Class 2? Are there any extra hoops you have to jump through to get the better deal?

That's an interesting one - hadn't thought of that. So there's no issue with buying them from Australia, with no registered address in the UK?

12 years, so don't really have any of those options open to me. But I don't really want to tie the money up in the UK, I only want to put it somewhere to earn a little interest to keep up with inflation until such time as the exchange rate works in my favour (and yes, I know that may be never!)