Seizethedance Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I had planned to keep our UK bank account to pay our UK mortgage from (we are letting our house out when we move to Australia in a few weeks). But the bank has just told me that they will close the account when I move. What do other people do? If I pay the mortgage from an Australian account wont I lose out on exchange rates and money transfer fees? Anyone help please?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 That's appalling!!!!!!! I would ask to speak to your bank Branch Manager and make a written complaint. Suggest you change banks before you move. Halifax never threatened us with this and we still have our accounts open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzukiscottie Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Seems quite odd. We're with RBS. Still got our accounts. Never been a problem. I know other migrants who have been in Australia for many years and they still have their UK accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Definitely sounds weird. I would ask them to explain why - it's just possible you have a particular TYPE of account which can't be held by an overseas resident, and it will just be a case of changing to another type. All the banks have tightened up on bank accounts recently - it's virtually impossible to OPEN a UK bank account if you live overseas, for instance - but I'm not aware of any rules preventing a UK citizen from holding a UK bank account while resident in another country. It is definitely worth keeping a UK bank account even if you don't need to pay the mortgage, as you'll find it useful for other things especially if you still have family there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seizethedance Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Panic over - thanks to everyones' comments I rang the bank and they said of course I could keep my bank account! Dont know what the guys in the branch were talking about, they seemed very sure that it would be closed but I have now been assured that they are wrong. Phew. Thanks everyone who replied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Glad to hear it. I was about to add to the indignation! It can be very hard to open a new account as a non resident, but the bank closing an existing account would be quite extraordinary, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davlap Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Just a quick question on this topic. Do you get bank letters sent to Aus? We have a couple of accounts and use in law's address in the UK. But I don't really like them getting my mail as we usually ask them to open before sending any junk We are with Nationwide and NatWest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzukiscottie Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Just a quick question on this topic.Do you get bank letters sent to Aus? Yes. RBS sends letters to our Aussie address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 As do Halifax for our mortgage correspondence....we put bank statements to our relatives in the UK and it suits us to keep a UK address active... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davlap Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Yes. RBS sends letters to our Aussie address. Thanks Suzukiscottie and srh82 Just got thinking though, that with Nationwide I open new accounts when the old ones get rubbish interest rates. Typically you can't do so unless you are UK resident. So I might change NatWest which is just a current account Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seizethedance Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 For anyone else who might be looking for similar information - I went back to Barclays and asked them to confirm that they wouldn't close my account as the guy on the phone had assured me. Their response was that in the past month or so people had been turning up with letters from the bank stating that as they are non-resident their accounts will close unless they have £75k in the account. The bank guy said he had called higher-ups but not been told much about it so he couldn't advise on whether this was a new policy or anything. Had a moment of panic but he basically said just to use our UK address even though it's not our residential address. So that's what we've done. Crazy business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 We have kept our Nationwide flex and credit card accounts using our Aus address. They send new cards to oz But we get on line statements but did in UK anyway. good foreign rates useful when travelling as oz cards charge more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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