Martinbjulieb

You can only get smoked bacon !! We were dying for a proper bacon sarnie when we came home!!

But anywhere you live in the UK will be close to your family than Australia is! We literally picked a central place here and have ended up in a lovely village in Nottinghamshire. Sure, I don’t see my family every day or even week sometimes but I see them more than I did when I lived in Australia! Good luck with your decisions

Are you on the same email address?

I think you need one TOR for each shipment especially if they are arriving at different times. We were the first people to complete a TOR with Chess and they thought we had to do one per PERSON, so we did and then we only got one TOR number which worries me slightly!! I contacted HMRC and they said it was one per SHIPMENT. Ask the shipper of your main lot, they should know really.

I don’t think you need a “branch” it’s just https://www.insure4less.com.au/. They specialise in one way travel insurance so they know you will be travelling home from Australia to the UK which is why we were able to take out the insurance for our possessions when we were staying in a holiday rental.

@LKC I probably recommended them to you!! Hope you are ok

We used Insure4less which are online only. If I remember correctly the policy also included insurance for 3 months after arrival and included insurance of personal possessions prior to you getting home contents insurance, also there was an option to extend cover.

Definitely keep Australian bank account open, not even sure if you can get it paid directly into U.K. bank. But when it gets paid into Australian bank account at least you are in charge of the transfer and will be able to get better rates. We used HiFx to transfer money from the house sale and they were great.

Thanks @paulswin we managed to do it online and sent all the docs they required. They even emailed me a copy of the Certificate as I told them it was urgent. Original in the post!! All sorted and full security clearance granted!

Hi, does anyone know if it is possible to get a police check done for time spent in Australia from the U.K.? Maybe online? My husband needs one for work purposes. Thanks.

No, I was referencing a post that was not relevant and seemed to be bashing people who had returned to the U.K. It has since been removed!

Moving Back to the UK from Australia - Positive Stories is the title of this thread.

We only paid one month in advance and a bond. I am sure it depends on the landlord/agent. We got character references from our employers/friends which no doubt helped.

We were not specific at all. We just literally listed what we were bringing. Ok we used the packers list as our list but still that just said “clothes” “kitchenware” “linen cupboard” etc. Also write on the box the same thing, i.e contents and from which room. I am pretty sure that the completion of the form is just a formality because they cannot literally check every box! It is also to confirm that for VAT purposes the goods are your own and you intend to keep them in your possession for 12 months after your move. Obviously if you decide to sell some furniture etc they won’t know, we bought a motorbike with us as we didn’t just want to sell it there for a low price just to get rid of it, after 12 months we sold it which was fine. Honestly we had no problems. If they want further information they will contact you by email.

That is what I was thinking we could do. The U.K. threshold is around 12,500 per person. So you would get £12,500 tax free per year and pay tax on anything else. We wouldn’t get state pension for another 5 years after we retire at 60 anyway so don’t need to take that into account straight away.

I don’t think you do, but to get it tax free I think you do! Then technically it is just “money” and not an income. Not really sure though Hopefully an expert will along soon

We have been back in the U.K. for just over two years now and were in Australia for 10. When we first moved we transferred a personal pension and my civil service works pension into 2 Australian super funds. My question is, when we reach 60 (our preservation ages) how long do you have to be resident in Australia for to withdraw your funds? For example could you take an extended holiday for a few months? Is so we would then transfer the money back to the U.K. using Moneycorp or the like and invest it here. Then we would just declare to HMRC the interest gained each year? Like you do on U.K. bank accounts/investments. Is that the way to do it? Otherwise we would just transfer amounts each year that would keep us under or just over the tax free threshold. Any advice greatly received! Thanks.

We had an email from a person rather than automated. It was Michael.frys@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk you could try that, it was back in Feb 2017 but worth a go.

We didn’t send any invoices in at all. We used our packers inventory/quote for our details. I think we had to provide details to show that we had sold our house, we used our settlement statement.

I can’t believe that they haven’t given you the information!! The TOR has been in use for over 2 years!! When we moved back in 2017 Chess moving said we were the first customers of theirs to use it (lucky us!!) and we were their “testers”!! Do it now, you should be ok.

We used Chess moving and they were fantastic, this was from Perth but I believe they are a national company in Australia.

Well said! I totally agree! No one should have to justify their feelings to anyone anyway.

Also how about keeping a copy of your TOR (transfer of residence) form that you have to lodge now. That will clearly show your intent also.

Visiting Doctors etc should be fine, we had been away for 10 years and registered at a new practice where we now live and have had appointments and prescriptions with no questions asked. We told them we had lived in Australia and they just asked for our children’s red health books and immunisation details from Australia and they updated the books. However, I have needed to see a specialist and had to prove residency with payslips, mortgage details, utility bills etc. Think it is 3 months residency but we had been back longer than that anyway.

Hi Jackie, I have copied parts of your post that totally resonated with us when we started planning our move back after almost 10 years in Perth. We arrived in March 2017. We have had the most wonderful experiences especially weather wise, a marvellous first spring and summer, a fabulously snowy winter, well very late Feb early March in 2018. Our children were in awe of the snow, especially when their school was closed for 3 days for “snow days” they had never even heard of this! The summer last year was amazing and we bought our own house in a little, well served village. The age of your children is perfect for a move back too, ours were 13 and 11 when we moved and have settled well. If you have any questions just ask or PM me Good luck! Julie