LobsterMobster

2 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It says you can just get inhibits removed without doing what the banks requests as per their procedures.  I’m surprised. Can you please post the link saying that.  Also,  banks do advise their customers that they will be putting a dormancy marker on the accounts. The problem often is customers haven’t updated their address with the bank so the letters go to the wrong address. 

What are you basing your comments on?

'Cos I'm basing mine on over 20 years' UK banking experience, including in my last role (up until late last year) dealing with all dormant account enquiries, Reclaim Fund statutory reporting, etc., etc. for the entire bank.

In my professional opinion, if OP follows the instructions I gave above I am 100% convinced they will get the account reopened. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered posting. Kinda wish I hadn't now...

52 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Having an Australian address on it wouldn’t be a problem. 

If you'd said "It shouldn't be a problem", I'd agree with you. But it is. Blame ever-tightening anti-money laundering laws, FATCA and the CRS for that. Banks are cracking down on non-resident accounts as they don't want the hassle and potential risks associated with them. 

That said, OP might phone up the call centre and get the new starter (or someone who's working their notice!) who puts through the change of address straightaway without asking any questions. And it might fly under the radar of the internal auditors. Who knows? We all get lucky sometimes...

52 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

 You will have to visit the bank with identification/proof of address in order for that to be removed.  Not easy from where you are right now but that’s what you will have to do.

Nope - that is why I said to invoke the hallowed name of the Financial Ombudsman. This exact scenario is something they help with. It even says so on their website. 

21 minutes ago, Loulabelle said:

Thank you so much for this advice LobsterMonster! Really appreciate it 

No worries - happy to help 

29 minutes ago, Loulabelle said:

 If I were able to reactivate the account, do you know if they would be able to have my Australian address on it and reactivate online banking for me too? With me having access to phone banking? 

That seems a bit optimistic to me... You could call them and ask if they hold non-resident accounts, but I suspect the answer would be 'no'. 

Basically, you just want them to re-open the account and pay the inheritance in - which would fall under the banner of "treating customers fairly", as you presumably kept the account open for just this kind of eventuality and they didn't bother to tell you couldn't use it anymore. 

Once the account is reactivated and the money paid in, it won't go dormant again for another 12 months at least. If can you get a relative to pay in 50p every few months, it won't go dormant at all! You can get the internet and phone banking set up when you go back, and the inheritance money is safe in the meantime.

If I were you I'd write to your bank explaining that you are in the process of returning to Scotland, will be living at [relative's address], have been delayed in Australia by Corona and therefore can't go into a branch to re-activate the account, asking them what you want them to do, and telling them you'll be complaining to the Financial Ombudsman if they don't action your request in 8 weeks. You should get a favourable response. Remember to enclose some kind of proof that the account is yours, like a statement.  

32 minutes ago, Loulabelle said:

Hi all,

We have been planning to move back to Scotland for some time now. We were supposed to make the move this March but things were delayed with my dad passing away, so we were then aiming for September this year. However, with all that’s going on just now with Coronavirus, we’re concerned we might need to delay further. I have some money in the uk from my father which is currently being kept safe by a family member. She tried to put it into my account that I had before I left. However, they were unable to take the payment. I am unable to access the account by phone banking or online. As a result I am considering setting up an international bank account. Can anyone recommend one? Or an alternative? 

If you didn't close down your old account, it has probably gone into 'dormant' status. It might be possible to re-activate it if it has not been dormant for too long. No idea what the timeframe is though - the dormant accounts I used to deal with had been dormant for over 20 years. Even then, it was possible to get back the money that was in them within a few days - in our case it was kept in a big 'pot' and the interest used for charitable purposes.

The Financial Services Ombudsman website should have details on dormant accounts that might help: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

12 hours ago, Marisawright said:

You would have to plan to order all your food and supplies online and given the number of other people who'd be doing the same thing, I'm sure the system would be under strain - but I don't think it would be impossible.  

Woolies have stopped home delivery in Victoria...

11 minutes ago, Red Rose said:

Hi all, 

I'm returning to the motherland after 7 years in Oz, flying today from Sydney. 

I have no knowledge at all of the best way of transferring AUD to GBP. 

I plan on transferring all my savings from my ANZ account to my mum's account (as I don't yet have a UK bank account).

I rang ANZ today to check their rates for transferring bank to bank and I would save about 1k using TransferWise. 

I have left it too late now to go into my ANZ branch to organise this as I fly this afternoon at 5pm. 

Will there be any issues transferring my AUD from the UK, using someone like TransferWise? 

Thanks!

There should be no problem if you have internet banking. My NAB account sends a verification code to my mobile if I want to make a transfer, so if it's the same with ANZ make sure to keep the number up to date on your account. I've never used Transferwise personally, but my SO sent money to my UK account using them, and it seemed to arrive instantaneously.

5 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

I’d opt for the quickest route. Is there a direct flight from Melbourne? I didn’t think there was yet. I’d so then do it. If not maybe do the flight via Perth. It will be a short stopover and at least they will remain in Australia which will be a small comfort to you as they would be looked after well. 

On the UK - Melbourne leg, the plane stops in Perth for refuelling, and the dogs stay on the plane. I'm guessing it would be the same in the other direction. 

13 hours ago, AmyL said:

Hi 

I am flying my 3 year old chihuahua out to Australia to move with us at the end of the year. I have heard mixed reviews about pet air, and also wondering whether we should even use a pet company! Can anyone give some advice - did you do it yourselves, what company did you use etc. etc.

Im very anxious about him flying out and being in quarantine so want the experience to be as less stressful for him as possible. He is so tiny and gets scared easily.

Most people on here used either Pet Air or Golden Arrow, and I don't recall seeing any negative reports on either of them.

We used Golden Arrow and I can highly recommend them. But I don't think they are taking on any new customers.

Pet Air were very helpful and knowledgeable when I needed a second opinion on my boy failing a blood test.

I wouldn't give the time of day to any of the other pet shippers I asked for quotes: one of them even sent me an out-of-date 'factsheet' stating that quarantine was still 30 days! 

1 hour ago, Lee69 said:

Seems thete are 2 options.

Dubai artiving beginning of may when it hits 38 degrees in Dubai with a 15 hour layover and artiving 11am...midday!

Or Thailand where it's four hours but no getting out of crates but staying on the plane. 

The latter involves a check through the bars of crate. The former involves stress of staying crated x no real check. 

Dubai sounds safer as long as the aircon bus arrives spot on time x no hanging around in hot plastic crate on tarmac.

That's my fear about the Dubai route. 

Does the direct Qantas flight from Heathrow to Melbourne not take pets on the return journey? Apparently, the people operating the kennels in Dubai are "very good" and the dogs get checked by a vet,  but if there's any chance of putting yours on the Qantas flight, I'd go for that - even though it costs more.

If those are definitely the only two options, maybe post this in the 'Ask Pet Air' section or PM Bob and see which he would recommend. Pet Air are very generous with advice: they have a lovely vet nurse working there called Catherine, who was super helpful in offering me a second opinion when my boy failed a blood test 

2 hours ago, Lee69 said:

One of my dogs is scared of the lawn mower sounds.

My younger dog is also scared of the vacuum cleaner, the mop, running water, anything falling on the floor, the wind, the sea, any strange dogs (including chihuahua puppies) and any strange humans not armed to the teeth with footy franks. He's currently hiding behind the sofa, as we had a bit of a storm last night.

Did he die of fear on the flight from London to Melbourne? No. Is he scarred for life by the experience? No. Was he out of sorts for a few days when he arrived? Not really.

I'm sure your dogs will be fine. Our canine friends are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for. 

7 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

It is almost always cheaper to take it as excess baggage with you (airline baggage can be anything within reason it doesn;t have to be a suitcase) We once took a boxed mini-fridge as a piece of baggage.

Air freight is massively expensive - you should think about £150 per normal sized moving box as being a decent price

 

I'd have to disagree with you on that. On Emirates, £95 bought me 5 kilos of excess baggage (and that was a special offer, not the going rate). With mybaggage.com, the £95 bought me a whole suitcase: it took under a week to arrive and went via DHL, so I was kept in the loop as to its whereabouts the whole time. I also sent half a dozen boxes with parcel2go.com. However, anyone using that service needs to choose their courier company carefully (UPS are great, DPD are dire, OCS Landmark were good on the Aussie side but not the UK side, etc.) and make sure to attach an "Unaccompanied Personal Effects" form to the box even if they are not asked for it: https://www.abf.gov.au/form-listing/forms/B534e.pdf

13 hours ago, Dobs said:

Me and my wife were just wondering if anyone can help, 

What is the process of people's pets (in our case its our dog) getting a visa I. E cost, length of quarantine, would he be on the same flight as us, or are there selected flights for pets each month? 

Any info would be great 

 

Thanksagain 

To give you some idea of the cost, we paid at least £7,300 for two large dogs (including quarantine, vet bills, lab tests and vaccinations) with Golden Arrow in November. That was on the direct Qantas flight to Melbourne via Perth; the Emirates flight via Dubai would've been a few hundred pounds cheaper. 

This page will tell you what the process involves: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/cats-dogs/step-by-step-guides/category-3-step-by-step-guide-for-dogs

If your dog is already vaccinated for rabies but more than, say, six months ago, he might not have enough antibodies left to pass the rabies titre test, so you might want to re-vaccinate him first to be on the safe side.  

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

If you are not resident in the UK how will you manage to get legally married there?

Don't they just have to give notice at a specific registry office and wait an extra few weeks? 

If you or your partner is from outside the EU, EEA or from Switzerland

You need to give notice together at a designated register office, even if you live in different districts. The immigration authorities at the Home Office will be told. If this happens you may need to wait up to 70 days before getting married or forming a civil partnership.

4 hours ago, El the Plasterer said:

Hi guys 

im bringing my dog along with me to oz and I am really worried as he has had a bad experience with a bad vet and now whenever a vet only approach even just to check a heat beat he totally freaks out trying to attack the vet. (No other signs of aggression atall it is only when vet approach)

so I’m really worried that once he arrives in quarantine and gets whatever examinations they do his going to freak. Normally I’m there able to restrain him (sort of  his a big Rottweiler) and if he bites a vet would they put him down. Could I have a note with him saying sedate before handling is that possible as I’m so worried this could go horribly wrong.

any advice would be massively appreciated

One of our two is the same, only with most strangers (due to fear). We chose Golden Arrow for pet shipping. I was also petrified that some poor  kennel worker or airport vet would get a nasty shock, but Golden Arrow advised that in their experience the 'difficult' dogs were often much better when their owners were not present. I was dubious to say the least.

However, after a couple of hours at their kennels he was eating out of their hands. They had no trouble with him, not did the vet at Heathrow. He was perfectly well behaved when we picked him up at Mickleham, and there were no reports there had been any issues during his stay. I had been advised not to put a warning note on his cage, in case the quarantine station refused to take him due to 'health and safety'. 

Sadly, his angelic behaviour ended as soon as he arrived home, and now he won't even let our vet scan his microchip...

I had one of these back in the day: https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/great-britain/railcards/16-25-railcard and the National Express coachcard.

Trainpal was being advertised at the beginning of virtually every video on YouTube a few months ago. Most annoying ad ever, but apparently it's an "absolutely sick app" that helps you save lots of money on travel...

13 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Sounds a lot to me.  I work for an ASX listed company in the UK, and they used to do 6 months at director level, but reduced to 3 months a number of years ago.  You would need to be very senior exec to get 6 months.

I once worked for the London branch of a global company where all employees were on at least 3 months' notice. At least half of them were low-level clerical staff. We weren't working on anything top secret - they had a massive staff retention problem! Sadly for the MD, plenty of other employers were willing to wait 3 months for good workers, and his cunning plan didn't put them off recruiting his staff. 

I'd be a bit suspicious of long notice periods for this reason, although I think OP will be ok as it's a 'senior manager' role.

Incidentally, when I was on 6 months' notice (at a different company) I had to work my notice period. So you won't automatically get an extra 26 weeks of paid leave in every role...

7 hours ago, Tylerr said:

What is the ease of getting jobs? I am currently a banking executive in Nigeria, do I need a special license for continuing in the same line of work. What are even the chances of getting a job in either investment banking or something similar?

As you are probably aware, Nigerian banking experience isn't particularly highly regarded overseas, as Western banks have to operate under a rigorous regulatory framework nowadays - with large fines for any transgressions.

Your best bet would have been to get a job at a global bank in Lagos and try to get an internal transfer to Sydney, but you've probably left that a bit late if you want to move in 3 months. No bank in Melbourne (investment or otherwise) would give my London work experience the time of day, so I would concentrate on Sydney if I were you. 

I've found LinkedIn to be best for banking jobs, but also do your research: find out which banks with a Sydney branch do a lot of business with Africa (StanChart springs to mind) and apply direct to the vacancies on their websites. 

There is also this: https://www.nab.com.au/about-us/social-impact/our-people/african-australian-employment but I have no idea what the criteria are. Good luck!

On 15/01/2020 at 03:59, Returnhome said:

That’s why I’d like other people’s success stories using them.

We shipped two dogs over on the direct Heathrow - Melbourne Qantas flight in late November, arranged through Golden Arrow. One of the dogs was elderly (13 1/2) and long-haired. We had no problems with either dog. 

If you divide them up into smaller 'bundles', will you exceed the maximum number of attachments allowed? IIRC we could upload more than one attachment in the same category. Of course, if an attachment would fit in more than one category, we would upload it under a category that didn't already have something in it to make it look like we had more evidence...

That was for the 100 visa. For the 820 it was still all on paper (back in 2012) so to reduce the unmanageable bundle of documents, I would put two pages on the photocopier at work and reduce the size from A3 -> A4. If you have access to a sophisticated scanner (perhaps in a library or a printers if you don't have an office job) you could maybe do the same with the scanning. Or do what I did and then scan the photocopies...