SWMOY04 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 hello all. I'm 4 weeks away from my move... yeaay!!! I've just realised that there is a small debt I won't be able to pay off in full before leaving. and the few phone calls I've made to utilities etc keep asking me to keep my direct debit open for refunds if needed...and then the taxman just said they may owe me money as I'm moving mid tax year and would have been taxed on pace for a full years wages.. and so on it appears I have to keep my account open... how do I go about This? my debt is with my bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 You just keep it. In fact, I'd recommend you keep it, even if you didn't have those little things to clear up, because a UK bank account can be handy - and with all the new regulations, it's much harder to reopen one later. Let them know you're going overseas. Then once you've got a permanent address in Australia, notify them of it. They may eventually close it if you don't have any transactions, but otherwise they will just let it be. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 (edited) That is good news as I was wondering myself what to do. I do not have any debts but wanted to leave it open so that my pension can be paid into it in 5 years time instead of having it sent to Australia once I am there next year. May be worth just sending £10 every couple of months just so that there is some kind of transactions going on? Edited October 24, 2018 by Marilyn additional Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Marilyn said: That is good news as I was wondering myself what to do. I do not have any debts but wanted to leave it open so that my pension can be paid into it in 5 years time instead of having it sent to Australia once I am there next year. May be worth just sending £10 every couple of months just so that there is some kind of transactions going on? Sending £10 every couple of months from Australia not such a good idea due to exchange rate fees. May be better to keep a decent balance in it as they will not close ot down then. We use ours for buying Xmas/birthday gifts for people back in the UK or charity donations. Fortunately we get the occasional £25 premium bond win going in there but it is quite easy to keep the account active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 11 minutes ago, Gbye grey sky said: Sending £10 every couple of months from Australia not such a good idea due to exchange rate fees. May be better to keep a decent balance in it as they will not close ot down then. We use ours for buying Xmas/birthday gifts for people back in the UK or charity donations. Fortunately we get the occasional £25 premium bond win going in there but it is quite easy to keep the account active. I understood it wasn't the balance that mattered, it's whether the account is "active", which means you do need some transactions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 8 hours ago, Marisawright said: I understood it wasn't the balance that mattered, it's whether the account is "active", which means you do need some transactions. It may depend on the bank and the type of account I guess but if you maintain a few hundred pounds in there and use it for gifts and top it back up to maintain the balance the bank are unlikely to just close it I would have thought. Mine has been fine with First Direct and I have had no transactions for months at a time. My only issue is that I have to log on to the account about once a month or they revert automatically to sending me paper bank statements which I do not want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 10 hours ago, Marisawright said: I understood it wasn't the balance that mattered, it's whether the account is "active", which means you do need some transactions. I agree Marisa it’s not the exchange rate either that matters, my daughter sends 10pds every now and then to keep her account active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unzippy Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Slightly related. I found it impossible to move my PayPal account to Aus, very annoying. No way of changing countries. I created a new PayPal linked to my new Aus bank account but kept my English paypal acct. This has worked out ok in the end for feeding the odd bit of money back and forth or as mentioned above, buying gifts in the UK to be sent to family in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 5 hours ago, Gbye grey sky said: It may depend on the bank and the type of account I guess but if you maintain a few hundred pounds in there and use it for gifts and top it back up to maintain the balance Using it for gifts and topping it up - those would count as transactions. I didn't mean to suggest it had to be constantly in use. I'm guessing a few transactions each year would be enough to keep it going. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinbjulieb Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 We kept our Royal Bank of Scotland one open for 10 years whilst we were in Perth.... they even left a £6k overdraft on it that we had as a fallback during our house sale in 2007!! Family used to pay money in for birthdays, Christmas etc and we would leave it there and use the equivalent amount in dollars to buy something. Then whenever we came back on holiday we had some spending money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 On 24/10/2018 at 22:18, Gbye grey sky said: Sending £10 every couple of months from Australia not such a good idea due to exchange rate fees. May be better to keep a decent balance in it as they will not close ot down then. We use ours for buying Xmas/birthday gifts for people back in the UK or charity donations. Fortunately we get the occasional £25 premium bond win going in there but it is quite easy to keep the account active. I hope you're remembering to put those premium bond wins on your tax return! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 7 minutes ago, Ken said: I hope you're remembering to put those premium bond wins on your tax return! Didn’t know they were taxable......but I am not working so don’t pay tax. All will change when I start to draw my pension by which time I will have cashed in the Premium Bonds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 (edited) On 21/11/2018 at 16:33, Gbye grey sky said: Didn’t know they were taxable......but I am not working so don’t pay tax. All will change when I start to draw my pension by which time I will have cashed in the Premium Bonds. Yes, although they're not taxable in the UK they are taxable in Australia. But if your total income is below the tax free threshold you won't have any tax to pay and nor do you need to file a tax return. Edited November 25, 2018 by Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 6 hours ago, Ken said: Yes, although they're not taxable in the UK they are taxable in Australia. But if your total income is below the tax free threshold you won't have any tax to pay and nor do you need to file a tax return. Worth bearing in mind though if I win one of the big prizes. Thanks for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney Boy Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Yes having a UK bank account will be very useful even if you don't live there and keeping a credit card active. e.g For holidays back in UK , hiring a car etc You can change your address to a family member in the UK or change it to your Australian one. If you change it to Australia there isnt a problem . You will eventually get a letter from UK bank asking for your Australian tax file number so big brother can connect all your earnings together . ( money laundering etc ) . It will be almost impossible to get a UK account again once you stop living there. A UK credit card / \bank can be very handy for buying things online and for sending birthday money to family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 (edited) On 25/10/2018 at 06:38, Gbye grey sky said: It may depend on the bank and the type of account I guess but if you maintain a few hundred pounds in there and use it for gifts and top it back up to maintain the balance the bank are unlikely to just close it I would have thought. Mine has been fine with First Direct and I have had no transactions for months at a time. My only issue is that I have to log on to the account about once a month or they revert automatically to sending me paper bank statements which I do not want. You need transactions for an account to be active. The balance is irrelevant. It is probably like Australia. If an account is dormant for more than a few years the balance gets sent to the government and the account closed. This is law too and the banks have to comply. Actually it is now 7 years but a while ago was only 3 years.. https://asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/financial-services/unclaimed-money/changes-to-the-commonwealth-unclaimed-money-laws/ Edited November 26, 2018 by Parley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 If you keep your address updated then they should inform you before closing an account. I got a letter once telling me to make a transaction within a certain timeframe or risk the account being closed. We have several accounts personal and business, the savings accounts do not need transactions usually. All have our Australian address and they send any correspondence (although not much as all on line) and new cards here. Do make sure your account is a good one without charges etc. any insurance won’t be valid anyway. Once you are no longer resident you can’t even swop accounts at the same bank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPRINTER Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 We have kept our UK accounts in the various countries we have lived in, just updated the address when we moved, credit and debit cards all continued as normal. Had a call from one of them a few weeks ago to see if we wanted to keep our credit cards as they hadn't been used for a while, when I said Christmas was coming and they would be, no problem was the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 We still have a joint account thats been open a long time -our UK pensions go into that account and we transfer them whenever I also have a UK Mastercard no annual fees but handy in an emergency We also have an overdraft if needed and yes the bank has out Aussie address I would not dream of closing it down its a bonus to keep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastmybest Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Can you keep a regular UK account with an Australian address on it? Or do you just use a family or friend's address for any notification that is not paperless? I thought regular accounts were just for UK residents, so they can only have a UK address on them? I understood you had the "overseas" type "UK" accounts in GBP for foreign addresses? All my banking is with Nationwide btw. I'm all ears! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPRINTER Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 We have regular UK accounts, one with NatWest and one with Halifax and had them for many years before we left the UK, We just notified them of the change of address and carried on as normal. It might be different if you want to open a new account whilst living abroad, but you would need to check. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPRINTER Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 Just an added thought, if you have credit or debit cards remember to advise them also of the change of address, I forgot with one of ours and wondered why it wouldn't work, when I phoned them they said you have moved and hadn't told us, whoops, updated the address and all working now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastmybest Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 Thanks. I've been with Nationwide for about 15 years, we have everthing with them. It seems that you can simply change the address to an Australian one and keep using the accounts. I hear some people around here used family or friends' UK addresses, but I don't think we need to do that. So we should be able to carry on using our UK credit cards for anything online as usual, as the address on the card will be the same as our residential address in Oz. Once we have a comparable banking setup in Australia the plan is to progressively close all the UK savings and credit card accounts and only keep one joint current account open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 Yup Nationwide have no issue with Aus address. I would however keep a credit card as well as a current account. Plus I would ensure that the accounts in the UK were the best available before moving. Once you are no longer resident you cannot change them, even within the same bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWMOY04 Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 On 02/12/2018 at 01:59, Pastmybest said: Can you keep a regular UK account with an Australian address on it? Or do you just use a family or friend's address for any notification that is not paperless? I thought regular accounts were just for UK residents, so they can only have a UK address on them? I understood you had the "overseas" type "UK" accounts in GBP for foreign addresses? All my banking is with Nationwide btw. I'm all ears! Ive managed to keep my bank account and credit card in the UK with my Australian Address... thanks for the advice everyone... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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