SPRINTER

When we moved we brought all our furniture, some antique and some modern, no problems.

Doubleglazed .com is the place to go for double glazing in Adelaide, just on the outskirts in Lonsdale, run by a Scot who knows the business inside out and his installers were mainly Brits when he put ours in. Noticed an immediate change in the temperature and drafts in the house. Got to agree the Aus. building standards are crap though.

We had similar problems with Halifax and ended up closing the account and moving to another bank, they seemed to have systems different to other banks, we were also told to go to the local branch to change our address, great as you say when we are 10,000 miles away.

Totally agree with Marisawright's comment having been through a similar situation, a knowledgeable accountant is well worth the cost especially one with knowledge of UK and Australian tax systems.

Everyone will have different matters that need dealing with so costs will differ, suggest you contact Alan for a quick chat and I am sure he will give you an idea of price. As far as we are concerned the price was very similar to our UK accountant when we lived in the UK solely. It is worth having someone who is conversant with UK and Aus tax matters as things can be missed doing it yourself.

The tax side of Alans company is BDHTax, they have looked after our UK and Aus tax for a few years now, so far no problems and reasonable prices.

As Marisawright said there is not a problem with freight in and out of the UK, drivers are checked. What about the 10000 people a day reported by a newspaper coming through Heathrow (if you can believe the figures) from various parts of the world, all essential travel?? I have even seen figures of only 3 in 100 being checked to see if they are self isolating where they say they will be. Still we can have one claim to fame, we nearly have the worst record of deaths. How many poor souls could have been saved if borders were closed early on?

We made the big mistake of moving back early Feb 2020, the biggest mistake of our lives, the UK is in chaos, the lunatics are running the country. Think very, very hard about moving back, it will take years to pay of the debts the country is running up and the youngsters starting work will be paying for most of their lives, It seems impossible for the idiots running the country to accept that shutting the borders on an island as the UK is will stop a lot of the infections entering the country, you only have to look at other island nations such as NZ and Australia to see that it works and if there is an outbreak it can be quickly dealt with, even the Isle of Man which is within the UK area shut it's borders and is virtually Covid free.

Chess are actually packing us today to return to UK and so far all seems good.

Agree with what Marisawright said, get it in writing, Insurance companies of all sorts are good at taking money but don't like paying out to freely.

We had the top cover for hospital and extras which seemed comparable to what we paid in our previous country. When they increased the premiums and reduced the cover available I went to the local office and it was like a football crowd with customers wanting to know what was going on, a lot of people were affected . I believe they amended some of their covers after this. If you Google BUPA and fill in the quote it gives you some idea of what is and is not covered. One of the main things we did not like was the fact Hospital doctors could charge what they wanted and the insurance would only cover up to a fixed limit, so could end up with a large excess if many doctors were involved.

Make sure you read and understand all the small print, we have to have private insurance with our visa and originally went with BUPA who on renewal nearly doubled our premium and reduced what we were covered for and we had made no claims. There can be quite a difference between the bill and what they will pay.

I recently did some money transfers Australia to UK that needed certifying, and a JP signature was all that was needed just to identify me, all was fine UK end no problems.

We are in Adelaide, South Australia and use the local JP for authorising various documents for the UK including passport renewal, service is free and never had a problem at the UK end.

Might be a good idea to get some professional help, there are some forms that need to be lodged for a landlord living overseas. Alan Collett who is on here regular is pretty clued up on these matters. As with most dealings with HMRC once the system is set up correctly it is pretty straight forward. Good luck with getting a decent tenant.