Celt Down Under Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Only if you are legally resident in the UK. Assuming you're still in Australia, you can't claim it. Thank you for the clarification. I will now hope that the talk about allowing the increases to us living in Australia comes to a good outcome for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Good point about not being able to claim the extra years if you're already getting an Aussie pension - it only makes sense since you shouldn't be able to claim the same work years for two different pensions. Can you give a bit more detail about the agreement assisting UK residents retiring after April 16? Why would it not? It probably will but from what they said (today) is that they have to wait for written confirmation that the same rules will apply after April next year when the new pension kicks in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingbacksoon Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 "You cannot open a UK account from Australia, it's impossible. Even when you get to the UK, no bank will look at you until you can show them proof of a UK residential address - which means you can't even apply until you've found a place to live AND received your first electricity, water or phone bills. Even then, you can't open an account at the counter, so allow a week's wait for an appointment and two weeks for the account to be available for use. So don't close your Australian bank accounts, you'll need to go on using them (with your ATM cards) for at least a month. If you need a credit card, then you'll need to keep using your Australian credit cards for at least a year." Hi Marisa - I opened a UK bank account in Australia with HSBC six months before I left earlier this year. I had not banked with them in Australia. I got a Visa card for both accounts and when I arrived in the UK they approved me for a mortgage and small overdraft straight away. I was on six months long service leave from Australia. I did get offered a job shortly after arriving in the UK, but they did the calculations based on my Australian income. I bought a house 10 weeks after arriving in the UK. I had not lived in the UK for 30 years, so it is possible to do it. The only problem with credit rating I had was with a phone account - I just got a monthly contract for the first three months, then changed it to a better package when I moved in to my own home. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Hi Marisa - I opened a UK bank account in Australia with HSBC six months before I left earlier this year. I had not banked with them in Australia. I got a Visa card for both accounts and when I arrived in the UK they approved me for a mortgage and small overdraft straight away. I was on six months long service leave from Australia. I did get offered a job shortly after arriving in the UK, but they did the calculations based on my Australian income. I bought a house 10 weeks after arriving in the UK. I had not lived in the UK for 30 years, so it is possible to do it. The only problem with credit rating I had was with a phone account - I just got a monthly contract for the first three months, then changed it to a better package when I moved in to my own home. Hope this helps. That's really interesting, thanks! We were told by every bank that new UK bank regulations meant they were not allowed to open a UK bank account for overseas residents. Even Citibank, whose website still advertises that if you bank with them (and we do) you can open an account in the UK, said they couldn't do it any more. So it's good to know there's one bank that still does it, though it doesn't make any difference to us now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingbacksoon Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Maybe I was lucky to get in before the change in regulations. It would be worth finding out for anyone contemplating a move back to the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingbacksoon Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I have just found this on the HSBC website - it may help the OP with setting up accounts before leaving Oz. [h=2]Global expertise[/h][h=3]Our global expertise can make your relocation easier wherever your destination.[/h]You can open an HSBC account in just about every country that HSBC operates in. In fact, we have a dedicated department established to help you do just that. It's called the International Banking Centre. Whether your needs are simple or complex, at the International Banking Centre our dedicated staff can provide you with all the information you need to make opening an HSBC account easy, all before you leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 That's really interesting, thanks! We were told by every bank that new UK bank regulations meant they were not allowed to open a UK bank account for overseas residents. Even Citibank, whose website still advertises that if you bank with them (and we do) you can open an account in the UK, said they couldn't do it any more. So it's good to know there's one bank that still does it, though it doesn't make any difference to us now. We had an old building society account from 35+ years ago that was still open with a little money in it. We wanted to get my UK pension paid into it, and tried to change it to an account that we could check on electronically instead of having the old passbook that they had to update at the counter. To do so, we were told that we had to open up a new account, and because we were not residents, we were not allowed to. So, we still have the old passbook, and decided to have the pension transferred directly to our Australian bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smtaz Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I opened a HSBC account this year in Perth & am using it as my daily credit card, it's very easy to open in Australia & im hoping it will give me the credit rating I need when I return to uk in 4-5 years. Anyone else had success with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I opened a HSBC account this year in Perth & am using it as my daily credit card, it's very easy to open in Australia & im hoping it will give me the credit rating I need when I return to uk in 4-5 years. Anyone else had success with this? You credit rating in Australia will mean nothing in the UK or vice versa I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingbacksoon Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I opened my new UK HSBC account six months before leaving Australia and had no problem getting a mortgage when I went back to the UK after being away for 30 years. I had a decent deposit which helped. They also approved a small overdraft and a credit card. I think the lending rules have relaxed a little since the GFC. I found them to be very helpful and in fact they suggested I apply for a mortgage when I went in to my local UK branch to change my address. I'm very glad that I did buy a house as here in the SE the house prices seem to go up on a daily basis!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smtaz Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 How did you manage to open an account in the UK while still in Australia? Did you have a UK address to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Centrelink pensions are portable ie you can take them to Uk but you must be in oz to claim Rates depend on length of residency I think it's 35 years between the age of 16 and retiring in Oz We moved back to uk in 2012 I get full Centrelink pension hubby gets 86% based on our ages when we emigrated We also get part Uk pensions However my understanding is we would have gotten full Uk pensions if we hadn't claimed our Aussie pensions before we left Oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 This is very interesting topic , and I will be following this one closely as it may relate to my situation too ..As I understand it , the Aussie aged pension will only be paid in full for a period of 6 months if no longer residing in Australia , after that a reduced amount is paid ... I could be mistaken , however , I think I read it somewhere on this site .... Confirmation would be appreciated . Dave C Payment amounts are full pension for 6 months then percentage based on length of residency in Oz I get full pension hubby gets 86% paid 4 weekly in arrears into our uk bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingbacksoon Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 No, I didn't have an address in the UK to give them so I used my Australian address. I did give them my NI number. Check out the HSBC website for more info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Centrelink pensions are portable ie you can take them to Uk but you must be in oz to claim Rates depend on length of residency I think it's 35 years between the age of 16 and retiring in Oz We moved back to uk in 2012 I get full Centrelink pension hubby gets 86% based on our ages when we emigrated We also get part Uk pensions However my understanding is we would have gotten full Uk pensions if we hadn't claimed our Aussie pensions before we left Oz This is true BUT you were old enough to claim it BEFORE you left Australia. If you'd left before pension age (as the OP is proposing to do), you wouldn't have been able to claim it from the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 This is true BUT you were old enough to claim it BEFORE you left Australia. If you'd left before pension age (as the OP is proposing to do), you wouldn't have been able to claim it from the UK. Yes we were old enough to claim and had claimed our Centrelink pensions prior to leaving Australia ,we had also claimed our Uk pensions which were being paid into our Aussie account They increased slightly when we returned to the uk and we now get the annual increase in the uk pension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BacktoDemocracy Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 We had an old building society account from 35+ years ago that was still open with a little money in it. We wanted to get my UK pension paid into it, and tried to change it to an account that we could check on electronically instead of having the old passbook that they had to update at the counter. To do so, we were told that we had to open up a new account, and because we were not residents, we were not allowed to. So, we still have the old passbook, and decided to have the pension transferred directly to our Australian bank. As i have said before, it is relatively easy to open an offshore account with lloyds jersey or singapore, they have a requirement for 2500 to be held and the account is then free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 As i have said before, it is relatively easy to open an offshore account with lloyds jersey or singapore, they have a requirement for 2500 to be held and the account is then free. I tried that from Australia and the only accounts I could find had high monthly fees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BacktoDemocracy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I tried that from Australia and the only accounts I could find had high monthly fees Lloyds international only require 2500 on deposit and then the account is free.I had very good service from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Many of the big banks seem to allow you to open an account from offshore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Many of the big banks seem to allow you to open an account from offshore. No, the UK banks won't now, we tried most of them. Even Citibank, who still advertise it on their website, won't do it any more. Sounds like HSBC is the exception Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 The rules have tightened a lot. I still have my UK bank account but they will not let me open a new savings account with them to get a better interest rate, even though I hold several accounts with them already and they deduct tax at source and refuse to pay me gross so I have to claim it back from the taxman. As usual common sense is lost somewhere along the way. I would always tell migrants to keep bank accounts open and manage them on line though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pommysheila Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Hello Bristolman This is so interesting and yet we don't seem to have a clear picture I am waiting also for someone who really does no what will happen to us. I am sure people will be fed up with me but I am a pensioner with feet in both camps 68 a widow since 2014. I feel I want to go home but so scared of messing up, my late hubby and I have been back twice over the years and even then it was not easy but to do this on your own is really daunting. It seems if you have more than 10.000 pounds from what someone said yesterday regarding her Father you don't get anything, well if you have to pay rent and all the other stuff that is not going to last long so your on the streets 70+ what happens then. I just wish someone from somewhere who really does no would tell us the bottom line please. xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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