joc1966

We have just returned to Adelaide after nearly three years "back" in Blighty. It took ages for the wife to find a job and whilst she loved the place, work, people, the money was crap - GBP16K/yr where a similar job in Australia pays around $60K/yr. Money I was being paid in Australia and moving over disappeared way to fast and the exchange rate killed us. We were lucky Canterbury College accepted our kids as UK Residents an didn't apply the two year wait or pay as an international student rule that usually applies to anyone who has been outside of the EU for more than three years. But there was no other support for them. We are happy to have had the opportunity to give the life a try and had circumstances permitted we would most probably still be there. The biggest lessons we learnt were:- 1. If you have been out of the EU defined area for more than three years you are screwed, your UK Passport and Birth Certificate counts for nothing; you have less rights than the European truckie that's running you off the road because he usually drives on the right and probably bought the licence anyway. 2. You see more of family when you holiday there, they all have their own lives and what with work, etc... 3. If you can do without it, don't take it... International Removalists think you have bottomless bank accounts and pockets.

At this time I am actually regretting signing up to PSS for our move to Melbourne. After agreeing their price and paying I then got a fresh invoice with a whole new set of fees. I replied by saying what I had paid was all I was paying and if they were going to start this game of extra charges they could repay my money and I'd go to another company. Got very apologetic reply and assurance that amount paid was all I was up for. So let them do the job and they finished the pack yesterday. Today I get a new invoice with new charges. Not happy to say the least. One of these charges is referred to as NES Fee charged by HMRC. I rang HMRC and, whilst this may pre-empt their investigations, their help desk said they were not aware of any such charge applied by HMRC especially on personal property. Will wait until the end of the week for a reply by HMRC before I dip into my fast diminishing funds and pay PSS. Regret the ££ tip I gave the packers now!