Simonrbh Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Hi everyone, Myself and my Aussie partner are moving to Brisbane shortly. My girlfriend moves in 12 weeks and I'll be over once I've sorted the house sale and removals......maybe late 2014! We are over in Brisbane for 3 weeks right now having a holiday and catching up with family. We are using this trip as a recce to sorted out Medicare, tax file numbers etc and look at getting a car. Does anyone have any advice about car insurance, seems pricey!? We've bought a car so we have one for when Wendy comes overs in 3 months. A Suncorp branch told me that none of our no claims bonus from the UK counted and wasn't transferable! So after 35 years of driving and maxing the NCB I'll be treated like a new driver and can't have A1 status?! Any other info on banks, Medicare/doctors, renting etc would also be great! Thanks in advance everyone. TTFN Simon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Simon stop what you are doing! It is a bad idea to do any of these things before you make your permanent move, I will elaborate a bit on each but only briefly as on mobile device. Tax - getting your tax number now when you won't even be here this tax year is just going to confuse and complicate and you might get demands for a tax return even though you don't need to do one. It might also confuse your official residency date. Medicare - to register for full Medicare you should be resident, not on holiday. One reason not to register too soon is because, once you register you have a year to decide whether to get private health insurance and benefit from no age loading. After the year, if you take out private cover you have age loadings, making it more expensive. Don't eat into your time allowed.. Car - insurance companies can get funny about insurance for non residents, so you might just want to take care with this one that is all. But please don't just say you are resident to make it easier, they might not probe too much when you take out a policy, it will be a different matter if you have a claim. Just shop around, most insurance companies will take an overseas NCB, including Suncorp sister companies so I wonder if you were just told wrong, our first policy was with GIO and they accepted it. Anyway though, other than the car, stop what you are doing. Reccies should be for looking at neighbourhoods and having a nice time, not doing official stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy1 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Just got insured with NRMA cheapest quote all round and great customer service so far. Might be different when/if i have to make a clam. But they won the quote by a mile. All others RAC, Suncorp were giving crazy quotes....Hope this helps...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Just got insured with NRMA cheapest quote all round and great customer service so far. Might be different when/if i have to make a clam. But they won the quote by a mile. All others RAC, Suncorp were giving crazy quotes....Hope this helps...... Our best quote was RAA. Depends who is doing the shopping I figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Fwiw OP, Rupert makes a great deal of sense re not setting those things up until you actually move over. And shop around for car insurance as when we got ours RAA accepted our no claims from the UK. Just needed a letter from the insurance company stating the amount etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 Rupert, Thanks for the advice and taking the time to reply whilst you're on your mobile. It's very much appreciated as I wasn't aware of the age loading on the private health option! With Wendy being a returning Aussie and her job being close to where she was brought up and I've been here 12 times, its a bit easier for us than your usual movers, I imagine. Wendy can have private health with BUPA through work so we are going to look into that and get a quote. On your advice I'll leave he tax file application until I'm here after selling our house in the UK. With us having been together for 10 years I automatically got my temp residency visa grant ungraded on entry and officially became a permanent resident when we entered on Tuesday to activate my temp visa before the July deadline, just need to wait two years to become a citizen now! I've had a quick look in the weekend paper for jobs to get a feel for the market, but it looks like online is going to be the best option. We're doing the background bits whilst we are moving from one family member to the next and sharing ourselves around........a task in itself with 4 brothers and families, plus aunts, uncles and old uni friends! We've got a trip planned up to Maleny/Montville next weekend, so just like you've advised, we are having some time out to relax and enjoy. Thanks for the advice about NCB on the car insurance, I'll do some more research about it. I was quite surprised when I was sat in the Suncorp branch and she told me that. I even asked her if it was just Suncorp but she reckoned all insurers were going to do away with A1 status! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 Skippy, thanks for the advice. I've checked NMRA and their quote seems really good. Wendy needs the car for when she's back here in late July so it seems to make sense to get it now as it's only a matter of weeks before she's back.........and it seemed to be a bargin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 Snifter, thanks for the reply and advice. I agree with what Rupert and yourself say about sorting some stuff out when we are over and we will do most of it when we move permanently. The idea of doing some research whilst we are here now is that if we come across any issues we know what they are and can put, or plan to put, actions in place. Wendy has discovered she needs to do quite a bit form filling to re activate her Medicare so it's been worthwhile is some ways. Also, getting Aussie licences, even if just for ID purposes seems a good idea as it save having to have our passports with us all the time. It's great to have help from everyone. As you guys have experienced this sort of stuff it makes it a lot easier for us to get clear information. Wendy hasn't lived here for over 12 years so a lot has changed in that time and I can't sing the praises enough with all the helpful advice and comments from people on here, to questions I've asked so far. I'm sure I'll have plenty more over the coming months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bromney Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Check out the car insurance comparision sites like comparethemarket, the cost difference between insurance companies is shocking. Coles were pretty reasonable and you can score flybuy points with them which helps a (tiny) bit. I'd agree with Rupert, dont be in a massive hurry to sort out TFN and things, plenty of time to do that once you arrive on a permanent basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Check out the car insurance comparision sites like comparethemarket, the cost difference between insurance companies is shocking. Coles were pretty reasonable and you can score flybuy points with them which helps a (tiny) bit. I'd agree with Rupert, dont be in a massive hurry to sort out TFN and things, plenty of time to do that once you arrive on a permanent basis. Comparison websites are not a good idea in Australia, the insurance market is not as competitive as in the UK and most brands choose not to be on them. You have to do it the hard way in Australia (i.e. individually) otherwise you miss our on about 70% of offerings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 4 years for citizenship, not two. No matter which visa you start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 4 years for citizenship, not two. No matter which visa you start with. Hi dmjg Thanks for the info, I think I mentioned the 2 year timeframe in another earlier post. I'm not sure where I got that from, I think it's from what I've read on postings somewhere on here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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