Gummygirl

Hi everyone, my hubby has just bought a car in the UK and found, to our dismay, that close to twenty years of a no claims history in Australia will not be taken into account, leaving us with a fairly hefty annual premium. Is this the case for all the car insurers? Or has anyone had a better experience on this front? Anyone able to recommend a good car insurer? Also by way of sharing information and giving an update: after my husband received his job offer in March, he started work in the UK by the end of May. My daughter and I will be joining in two weeks' time. In this time, we've: 1- put our house on the market then decided instead to rent it out so as not to burn bridges while we see how things pan out 2- confirmed a school place for our daughter 3- applied in early May for a spouse visa which was received after two months; this seems to be the standard processing time at the moment 4- shipped all our things in a container; we decided it would save time and money versus buying new things, but I guess this depends on individual circumstances. We went with Palmers and have been happy at this end but haven't received the container so can't comment on the other end yet. Thought about taking the car but decided against it. Sold the car on Carsales and was happy with the process. 5- sorted out shipping for our dog; Pet Carriers was reasonable and knowledgeable so we will likely go with them. unfortunately, contrary to many of the observations on this site, we have found it difficult to get a place that will allow pets. Maybe that's just been the places we've looked at but we are renting a no-pets place in the southeast and the dog will stay with a friend until we sort things out, either by finding a pets-allowed place or buying our own. 6- thought about taking a gbp loan out to buy the car. Had a nasty surprise when HSBC quoted a low indicative rate of 3%, then came back with an actual rate closed to 8%!! -- maybe because we have no credit history? Although we've been longtime customers in Oz and hubby has held an account with them in the UK for the last seven years. Told the story to a friend and apparently same thing happened to them in the UK (different institution) except it was for a home loan and it was something like 3% quoted and 5% actual-- a real shocker if you're talking large sums. Are banks allowed to have such a big disparity between indicative and actual rates?? Anyway thanks to Brexit, we transferred money over and saved ourselves the headache, but still...something to watch out for. Back to the car insurance thing, would appreciate referrals and an insight into how it all works in the UK. Do we accept the hit to the premium or are there companies we should look at? My hubby got quotes from Churchill and Directline and neither cared about our no-claims record in Australia. Hope some of the info I've shared is of use and likewise hoping to hear back from some of you, thanks

Travel is so much about perspective. When I first moved to Australia, I had spent the previous decade living and travelling just about everywhere -- Asia, Europe, the U.S. I was quite happy to move to Oz thinking that I was all travelled out, I was tired of getting on planes, and what I really wanted to do was put down roots. Five years later, I met my British husband, we had a child. And started travelling again. The annual or so pilgrimage to visit families overseas. Then branching out to other places when we could squeeze it in. And realising there was still so much left to see -- and all the places we wanted to go were hours from us! Even our in laws from the UK had a shorter journey to Johannesburg than we did, and we're supposed to be in the same Hemisphere! So here we are now moving back to the UK (sorry don't know if I updated my original post about the jobs dilemma for those who read it -- yes, we are making the move) and guess what we did two months ago? Looked at each other and said 'We better see what we can while we can!' Went to NZ for the first time since living here. Finally made the pilgrimage to The Rock (Uluru) and took our daughter to see what we could of the Great Barrier Reef before it disappears (so to speak). Husband encountered a brown snake at Uluru and the stinger suits we wore at the Reef made for some great photo ops -- hey, this is Australia. We're very fortunate to have been able to do this, but the real point is that it's easy to take things for granted especially if they're in your own backyard. Met a British woman who migrated to Oz a few years ago. When I asked her about places she'd been to in Europe, she said she never got around to it. Asked her if she'd been to see a brother who lives in NZ, and she hadn't gotten around to that either. She was in a relatively well paying job but everyone has different priorities and financial situations of course. The key thing for those of us who like to travel is that everywhere has something to offer (some places more than others, and perhaps with less venomous creatures, but I'll stop there) and not to take things for granted just because they're under your nose. Do I worry about air travel in Europe? Absolutely. But we're looking forward to houseboats and campervans and yes, we will still be getting on planes. Five hour flights to New York instead of twenty? Sign me up please.

You may have seen my first post asking for advice from the forum and I've gotten such a wealth of insights it seems only right to share my own if it can be of help. Moved to Australia in early 30s (not from UK), and now looking to move to the UK in mid to late 40's. If it goes ahead, the UK will be the fourth country (not including my country of origin) I've lived in since I left my home country at 18 to study overseas. Started out with a sense of adventure, but by the time I moved to Australia, I was really wanting to put down roots again. Little did I know that I would eventually think that the roots I put down were ultimately in the wrong place because once the adventure wore off, family ties called back to me. Australia has been very kind to us and I'm not leaving for anything other than family reasons. I believe it's referred to as 'the ties that bind.' The home country doesn't work for practical reasons, but I'm happy enough to adopt the family ties of my husband. Or maybe it's the wanderer in me that feels ready for a change. Who knows. Life works in mysterious ways. All I can say is that whenever I've made a big decision like moving, it's always anchored in the thinking that if I don't do it/check it out, I'll always wonder 'What if?'. And I don't want to have to do that, so I generally decide to go for it. And if things don't work out, I avoid regretting because at least now I know that I tried it and I won't be wondering 'what if'. I can also understand your wife's situation. We had two sets of good British friends who lived here for a long time. Spent a lot of couple time with them. But as soon as the first baby arrived, they went straight back. So your wife wouldn't be the first. And for good reason. But there's also nothing to say you won't be back. There's a reason this forum exists! Best of luck with your decision.

Hi there, I have an Australian passport though not originally Australian. From a visa perspective we would be fine on the back of the offer. I did look into the whole resident non-domicile thing while in the UK. For the moment, it shouldn't be an issue. If there are other things to consider, I'd appreciate hearing about them. Thanks I've also been following the car talk with a mixture of detachment and amusement. I must admit I'm an A to B kind of person when it comes to cars. Between that and dealing with grubby little handprints everywhere, I try not to over-invest in them. I did however take a peek at car prices in Australia and UK. For some reason they seemed to convert to about the same price. This was looking at carsales.com.au vs autotrader.co.uk. Maybe just the location?--in the UK they ask for postcode before they show results.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to respond. Lots of good food for thought.

PS I should also mention that hubby is missing his older sibling a lot and was really looking forward to the idea of spending more time together. So is equally disheartened at the prospect of not being able to do so.

Hello, I've followed this forum with great interest. There seems to be a lot of collective wisdom on here so I'm hoping to gain a few insights on our dilemma as we face a move back to the UK. In our late 40's, with a primary school age child. After almost 20 years of enjoying life in Sydney, we recently decided that the pull of family, friends and shorter flights to Europe and the US made it worth seriously looking at a move back to the UK, where hubby is from. We have no family ties here at all, nor particularly strong friendship ties, which has been a sad realisation, but it isn't going to change anytime soon. So my hubby looked into a transfer with his multinational company, and has received an offer. All good so far--except that the offer is for a level lower than his current level (from managerial to non-managerial) and the base salary is GBP10K or AUD20K less than what he's on now. According to the UK hiring manager, Australia is 'a bit behind in the way they do things', but if hubby shows he fits in with a higher level, then they would consider putting him back up. (Except when you're in your late 40's, you've learned to take words like that with a grain of salt.) Hubby is crushed. He's worked hard to get to his current position after shifting industries, he's won various company awards for good performance, and it suddenly feels like he's getting a demotion. So--what to do? If he accepts, then he wouldn't really be starting in the enthusiastic positive mindset you'd hope to have when starting a new chapter in your life. If he takes it with a view to moving jobs when he gets the chance, we're not sure of how easily one can do that in late 40's, even for contractual work. Family members live in an expensive part of the Southeast, so to be close to them and jobs we'd need to pay a bit more on the mortgage to move over into a similar house, so having a lower income wouldn't help. If he turns it down, we would be financially well off if we just kept going the way we are. We could afford to travel each year, but we wouldn't have family close by, and we really want our child to experience the support of a more extended family network especially coming into the teenage years. Our holidays would also be split trying to see people in different countries. We were hoping that at least by being in the UK, we could spend time with family without needing to take such long holidays to do it, freeing up time to see other places in the world! Also in the long run, we'd want to send our child to uni overseas to be exposed to more of the world, and if she chose to remain overseas...the thought has occurred that I would have no one to visit me in the aged care home here in Sydney... Sorry if this all sounds like a first-world problem, but any helpful perspectives would be greatly appreciated, especially if you've been through a similar situation.