Going home soon (Personal Diary?)

[Tulip1]

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Oh yes it would.    In the UK, you can walk into the bank and open the account with just your passport, BUT the account cannot be activated until you present for a face-to-face interview with a bank officer and provide proof that you are a resident of the UK.  At that point, the account is "activated", but that doesn't mean a lot because you have to wait for the cards to be posted to the address you provided, which takes about a week.

In my case, I had an address but there was a week's wait to get an interview with a bank official.  Then another week and a half for the cards to arrive.  

In my husband's case, he had to wait until we had a utility bill but when he presented it, it didn't show his full name only his first initial, so it got rejected.  So we had to get the bill reissued - another week - then organise another interview - another few days' delay - and then finally they activated the account and then it was another week to receive the cards

Edited December 26, 2019 by Tulip1

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, AliQ said:

When we returned last year, we went to the bank with our documents, our account was set up within thirty minutes or so, and the account was active there and then. Just had to wait for the cards to be posted though, but they arrived within the week.

Presumably you had documents with you to prove residence in the UK?   That's the thing that holds most people up.

[AliQ]

34 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Presumably you had documents with you to prove residence in the UK?   That's the thing that holds most people up.

Hi, we were staying in a B&B at the time, but the bank accepted our UK passports and a document printed off from the HMRC website showing our NI numbers which had a UK address on it (used a relatives for that) and my husband was receiving a UK pension so that was another document that was accepted. We explained that we had just arrived so no fixed address.

[Marisawright]

9 hours ago, AliQ said:

Hi, we were staying in a B&B at the time, but the bank accepted our UK passports and a document printed off from the HMRC website showing our NI numbers which had a UK address on it (used a relatives for that) and my husband was receiving a UK pension so that was another document that was accepted. We explained that we had just arrived so no fixed address.

In that case, the bank officer broke the law, because he's supposed to confirm you are actually living at those addresses.  However he's probably cottoned on to the fact that no one will ever find out because no one overheard your conversation, and he just ticked the box that says it's your permanent address.   The security team at head office will never know!

[Vickie78]

This post is just me getting my thoughts out...

So we were originally going to head back in January, but then Mum ended up in Hospital and 2 weeks just went by and then it occurred to us we have Xmas/New Year to deal with and Xmas closures and what not, and got ourselves into a bit of flap. So we had a chat and decided to give us another month. Breathe! So we decided on mid Feb. I later realised funnily enough that we arrived in Australia back in 1993 on the 16th Feb. Maybe it's a sign? LOL

Anyhoo while the anxiety subsided back then, it is now creeping it's ugly head in again, I know it's normal, I know! Flipping between anxiety, are we doing the right thing, will we be OK, is it the right decision... to excitement and happiness and everything in between. I go to bed and fall asleep fine, but keep waking up multiple times thinking about things to do, will be OK, what if, shit did I do that? Bloody hell Brain, shut up already! 

Stop over thinking things. If only!  

I'm sure my mum went through similar when we came here all those years ago, and I guess we are lucky now as we have the Internet, forums and what not so I can at least ask questions, research and what not, she didn't have all that. Brave woman! Or maybe it was better that way? Just decide, get on a plane and voila! Who knows? If she did it back then, I'm sure I/we can do it now. Back then I was just a teen going with the flow, pissed off at having to leave my Friends etc, but now as an adult oof! Stressful   At least my kids are excited unlike me back then. 

To Do - Not in order
Sell/give, donate/throw more crap
Sell Car
Book MoveCube
Flights
Find/Book temporary accommodation (Have to find somewhere not too expensive, hahaha yeah right!)
Notify Real Estate mid Jan / Get written reference (Hopefully) (Have ledger from rental many moons ago as well, wouldn't give a reference booo!)
Sort out Aussie Bank account - Notify three times I'm going overseas, I don't want my card blocked - change address/get statement posted
Some point transfer some to Money wise then my HSBC global (Think that's how you do it?) keep some in Aus for bills/bond return and what not
Cancel everything bill/subscription wise
Hand in keys to real estate.
Leave 
Arrive 
Pass out from Jetlag? 

*Probably forgetting something, No doubt it will be remembered at 3am at some point in the future.  

 

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, Vickie78 said:

Anyhoo while the anxiety subsided back then, it is now creeping it's ugly head in again, I know it's normal, I know! Flipping between anxiety, are we doing the right thing, will we be OK, is it the right decision... to excitement and happiness and everything in between. I go to bed and fall asleep fine, but keep waking up multiple times thinking about things to do, will be OK, what if, shit did I do that? Bloody hell Brain, shut up already! 

Some point transfer some to Money wise then my HSBC global (Think that's how you do it?)

Hand in keys to real estate.
 

(((((Hugs))))) to you, it will all work out in the end.  Yes, I think it is possible to know too much!

Tip - keep a notebook by the bed and when you wake up in a tizz, write down all the things you're thinking about so you can check them out in the morning  Your brain can then stop worrying about forgetting it all, and you're more likely to get some sleep.  And do use a paper notebook, not your phone, as the blue light will make you feel more wakeful.

No need to use Moneywise or Moneycorp to transfer to your HSBC global account.  HSBC has reasonable rates already and anyway, it's not an overseas account - it's just an Australian account that lets you hold funds in other currencies. 

Remember to give the required notice (usually two or four weeks) to your real estate agent even if you've warned them already. 

[VERYSTORMY]

7 hours ago, Vickie78 said:

This post is just me getting my thoughts out...

So we were originally going to head back in January, but then Mum ended up in Hospital and 2 weeks just went by and then it occurred to us we have Xmas/New Year to deal with and Xmas closures and what not, and got ourselves into a bit of flap. So we had a chat and decided to give us another month. Breathe! So we decided on mid Feb. I later realised funnily enough that we arrived in Australia back in 1993 on the 16th Feb. Maybe it's a sign? LOL

Anyhoo while the anxiety subsided back then, it is now creeping it's ugly head in again, I know it's normal, I know! Flipping between anxiety, are we doing the right thing, will we be OK, is it the right decision... to excitement and happiness and everything in between. I go to bed and fall asleep fine, but keep waking up multiple times thinking about things to do, will be OK, what if, shit did I do that? Bloody hell Brain, shut up already! 

Stop over thinking things. If only!  

I'm sure my mum went through similar when we came here all those years ago, and I guess we are lucky now as we have the Internet, forums and what not so I can at least ask questions, research and what not, she didn't have all that. Brave woman! Or maybe it was better that way? Just decide, get on a plane and voila! Who knows? If she did it back then, I'm sure I/we can do it now. Back then I was just a teen going with the flow, pissed off at having to leave my Friends etc, but now as an adult oof! Stressful   At least my kids are excited unlike me back then. 

To Do - Not in order
Sell/give, donate/throw more crap
Sell Car
Book MoveCube
Flights
Find/Book temporary accommodation (Have to find somewhere not too expensive, hahaha yeah right!)
Notify Real Estate mid Jan / Get written reference (Hopefully) (Have ledger from rental many moons ago as well, wouldn't give a reference booo!)
Sort out Aussie Bank account - Notify three times I'm going overseas, I don't want my card blocked - change address/get statement posted
Some point transfer some to Money wise then my HSBC global (Think that's how you do it?) keep some in Aus for bills/bond return and what not
Cancel everything bill/subscription wise
Hand in keys to real estate.
Leave 
Arrive 
Pass out from Jetlag? 

*Probably forgetting something, No doubt it will be remembered at 3am at some point in the future.  

 

Book flights ASAP as they will get more and more expensive the longer you wait. 

Start having a look at things like Airbnb for temp accomdation, there should be some good deals available as it is mid winter and well out of tourist season. 

[Vickie78]

19 hours ago, Marisawright said:

(((((Hugs))))) to you, it will all work out in the end.  Yes, I think it is possible to know too much!

Tip - keep a notebook by the bed and when you wake up in a tizz, write down all the things you're thinking about so you can check them out in the morning  Your brain can then stop worrying about forgetting it all, and you're more likely to get some sleep.  And do use a paper notebook, not your phone, as the blue light will make you feel more wakeful.

No need to use Moneywise or Moneycorp to transfer to your HSBC global account.  HSBC has reasonable rates already and anyway, it's not an overseas account - it's just an Australian account that lets you hold funds in other currencies. 

Remember to give the required notice (usually two or four weeks) to your real estate agent even if you've warned them already. 

Oh, duh! I didn't even think of it that way regarding HSBC. I'll just have to see what NAB's daily transfer limits are I suppose.  Yes 28 days for Real Estate as we are now on periodic  

Great idea regarding Notebook, thanks x

16 hours ago, VERYSTORMY said:

Book flights ASAP as they will get more and more expensive the longer you wait. 

Start having a look at things like Airbnb for temp accomdation, there should be some good deals available as it is mid winter and well out of tourist season. 

Yes Flights I know  Accommodation will look at Air BnB and B&B's see which We can get for best price. 

[Vickie78]

Just putting this here... It's true  (I also need reminding lol) 

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Vickie78

[Marisawright]

21 hours ago, Vickie78 said:

Oh, duh! I didn't even think of it that way regarding HSBC. I'll just have to see what NAB's daily transfer limits are I suppose.  Yes 28 days for Real Estate as we are now on periodic  

You can arrange larger transfers any time  you like, just ask the bank.   Personally I would just change bank accounts altogether - close your NAB account and put everything in ING, then just use your ING card in the UK until you get your British account sorted.    There's no ATM fees to pay on an ING card in foreign ATM's, and their exchange rates are good.   Then you won't need to bother mucking about with global accounts and changing currencies at all, until you're ready to transfer your main savings over to your UK account.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Marisawright

[Vickie78]

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

You can arrange larger transfers any time  you like, just ask the bank.   Personally I would just change bank accounts altogether - close your NAB account and put everything in ING, then just use your ING card in the UK until you get your British account sorted.    There's no ATM fees to pay on an ING card in foreign ATM's, and their exchange rates are good.   Then you won't need to bother mucking about with global accounts and changing currencies at all, until you're ready to transfer your main savings over to your UK account.

Good Idea, to be honest the HSBC app is crap and confusing. Will get onto ING  

[Vickie78]

33 minutes ago, Vickie78 said:

Good Idea, to be honest the HSBC app is crap and confusing. Will get onto ING  

Hmm upon investigation, Apparently ING don't do overseas direct transfers, have to use a third party, how ridiculous   And apparently for some purchases they require a code sent via sms but will only accept an Australian Number. I'm not planning on taking my crappy Optus with me as I'll be getting a UK sim, what a poop! I think I might just switch to my own banks version it's $10 per month but you earn back with cashback anyway. At least I know it will actually work! 

[Vickie78]

Realistically how long should/could it take to secure a rental property in the UK? Just  wondering how long to book temp accommodation for  

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, Vickie78 said:

Hmm upon investigation, Apparently ING don't do overseas direct transfers, have to use a third party, how ridiculous   And apparently for some purchases they require a code sent via sms but will only accept an Australian Number. I'm not planning on taking my crappy Optus with me as I'll be getting a UK sim, what a poop! I think I might just switch to my own banks version it's $10 per month but you earn back with cashback anyway. At least I know it will actually work! 

The point with ING is that for day-to-day banking, you don't need to do any transfers at all.  Your money sits in your ING account in Australian dollars.    You just go to any ATM anywhere in the UK or Europe and get money out, exactly like you would here. If you want to buy something in a shop, you just present your card, same as you do here.  There is an international transaction fee every time, but ING refunds it to you. 

We never had to receive a SMS for any of the transaction when we were on holidays.   We were away six weeks so we made a lot of transactions. The maximum we spent in one transaction was $400.  

If you're transacting online, so you're not physically presenting your card, it could be a different story.   But I think most banks have some kind of two-stage verification for that situation. I'd be surprised if NAB doesn't have something. For that reason, I suggest you keep your crappy Optus phone as you don't want to get caught out. 

I had terrible trouble with the Commonwealth Bank because l let me Australian phone go when we moved to the UK back in 2015.  While I was there, the Commonwealth introduced that SMS thing and suddenly I couldn't get at my money!   Luckily I was able to reactivate the number on a pay-as-you-go for about $5.  I never used it to make calls but it could receive the SMS's and that's all I needed. 

By the way, if you are doing transfers from your Australian bank to an overseas bank, you SHOULD be using a third party, it's the most cost-effective way - and that applies to all Australian banks.   If you do a direct transfer from NAB or anyone else, you'll pay through the nose.    ING has an agreement with one of the third-party providers so that's easiest, but you could also use Moneycorp or Transferwise.

Travelcards are a trap, the exchange rates are very unfavourable and there are extra fees on top - plus some places (like car hire firms) won't accept them.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Marisawright

[Vickie78]

7 hours ago, Marisawright said:

The point with ING is that for day-to-day banking, you don't need to do any transfers at all.  Your money sits in your ING account in Australian dollars.    You just go to any ATM anywhere in the UK or Europe and get money out, exactly like you would here. If you want to buy something in a shop, you just present your card, same as you do here.  There is an international transaction fee every time, but ING refunds it to you. 

We never had to receive a SMS for any of the transaction when we were on holidays.   We were away six weeks so we made a lot of transactions. The maximum we spent in one transaction was $400.  

If you're transacting online, so you're not physically presenting your card, it could be a different story.   But I think most banks have some kind of two-stage verification for that situation. I'd be surprised if NAB doesn't have something. For that reason, I suggest you keep your crappy Optus phone as you don't want to get caught out. 

I had terrible trouble with the Commonwealth Bank because l let me Australian phone go when we moved to the UK back in 2015.  While I was there, the Commonwealth introduced that SMS thing and suddenly I couldn't get at my money!   Luckily I was able to reactivate the number on a pay-as-you-go for about $5.  I never used it to make calls but it could receive the SMS's and that's all I needed. 

By the way, if you are doing transfers from your Australian bank to an overseas bank, you SHOULD be using a third party, it's the most cost-effective way - and that applies to all Australian banks.   If you do a direct transfer from NAB or anyone else, you'll pay through the nose.    ING has an agreement with one of the third-party providers so that's easiest, but you could also use Moneycorp or Transferwise.

Travelcards are a trap, the exchange rates are very unfavourable and there are extra fees on top - plus some places (like car hire firms) won't accept them.

 

 

I opened a moneycorp account, I was thinking about transferring from ING to UK account once open, but yes silly me.. dear me, my brain these days. My regular NAB requires the SMS thing when I add a new payee or biller basically, not for online shopping or in store. So I would assume ING is the same. I do know though that NAB accepts an overseas number though. 

Righto, so when I do want to transfer the bigger sums to a UK account I shall go from bank to moneycorp to UK. Got it! 

Thanks again Marisa x

[Lavers]

20 hours ago, Vickie78 said:

Realistically how long should/could it take to secure a rental property in the UK? Just  wondering how long to book temp accommodation for  

Depends on what area you are looking at.

Have a look on www.rightmove.co.uk which will show properties, it will show you when they are available as well.

I'd have thought that you could be in one within a couple of weeks.

[Vickie78]

2 hours ago, Lavers said:

Depends on what area you are looking at.

Have a look on www.rightmove.co.uk which will show properties, it will show you when they are available as well.

I'd have thought that you could be in one within a couple of weeks.

Oh I am , there's loads was just wondering how long the process takes (here it's go view, apply, get approved, pay, pick up keys) usually in a couple of days. 

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, Lavers said:

I'd have thought that you could be in one within a couple of weeks.

We booked a holiday place in Bournemouth for four weeks.  We thought that would be plenty of time but when we started looking at rentals, we found most of them were real dives, nothing like the photos (often the photos were of the property when first rented, and they hadn't been looked after).   We found a decent place after three weeks but it was new on the agent's books and they hadn't done the paperwork (I was never clear what that involved), so we had to book an extra week on the holiday place because they took two weeks to give us the keys. 

That said, rentals in Bournemouth are very hard to come by because it's a holiday destination plus there's a university. In an area where there's less demand it would be better I'm sure.

[VERYSTORMY]

6 hours ago, Vickie78 said:

Oh I am , there's loads was just wondering how long the process takes (here it's go view, apply, get approved, pay, pick up keys) usually in a couple of days. 

We booked two weeks in a holiday cottage through Airbnb and were looking at places around Windsor and ascot. We found that plenty of time and saw about 4/5 we liked. From telling the agent we wanted it, to getting the keys was less than two days. From memory, we did the viewing Tuesday evening and had the key's Thursday morning. 

[Vickie78]

Bank account opening, do they accept a lease and UK Drivers Licence as forms of proof of address? Was thinking if they do wouldn't have to wait for a Utility bill? 

[Marisawright]

48 minutes ago, Vickie78 said:

Bank account opening, do they accept a lease and UK Drivers Licence as forms of proof of address? Was thinking if they do wouldn't have to wait for a Utility bill? 

The driver's licence wouldn't work because it doesn't prove you're resident right now.  So it needs to be a current dated document that has been posted to your address.   You only need one document.  I think I told you the trick of changing your address now to your relative's address, then asking them to send a printed statement there.    

[Vickie78]

7 hours ago, Marisawright said:

The driver's licence wouldn't work because it doesn't prove you're resident right now.  So it needs to be a current dated document that has been posted to your address.   You only need one document.  I think I told you the trick of changing your address now to your relative's address, then asking them to send a printed statement there.    

Yes you did, I was under the impression it was more than one document. All good  

[AliQ]

On 26/12/2019 at 21:59, Marisawright said:

In that case, the bank officer broke the law, because he's supposed to confirm you are actually living at those addresses.  However he's probably cottoned on to the fact that no one will ever find out because no one overheard your conversation, and he just ticked the box that says it's your permanent address.   The security team at head office will never know!

Yes, you are right but our situation was a tad odd. We had a rental agreement document ready to go, but because we had not yet paid the deposit and six months rent, the document was not useful. We needed a UK bank account to transfer money from our Australian bank (had to use an authorisation form ) so we could then pay for the rental by direct bank deposit (credit cards not accepted for this type of transaction)

We could not pay the rental agency from our Australian bank account because I had discarded my Australian sim card, so we could not receive those SMS codes from the bank, which was stupid of me otherwise it would have been so easy !

Big lesson learnt, KEEP your Australian sim card for banking purposes until you are 100% sure you no longer need it. I now use a Telstra pre paid, it's only about 30 dollars for six months, and it's easy to re new online once the time is up.

[Vickie78]

19 hours ago, AliQ said:

Yes, you are right but our situation was a tad odd. We had a rental agreement document ready to go, but because we had not yet paid the deposit and six months rent, the document was not useful. We needed a UK bank account to transfer money from our Australian bank (had to use an authorisation form ) so we could then pay for the rental by direct bank deposit (credit cards not accepted for this type of transaction)

We could not pay the rental agency from our Australian bank account because I had discarded my Australian sim card, so we could not receive those SMS codes from the bank, which was stupid of me otherwise it would have been so easy !

Big lesson learnt, KEEP your Australian sim card for banking purposes until you are 100% sure you no longer need it. I now use a Telstra pre paid, it's only about 30 dollars for six months, and it's easy to re new online once the time is up.

Ooops. 

Does your bank not allow international phone number or via the App? I know CBA and NAB do, NAB you can just let them know or you can turn off sms auth over the phone, if you won't have access to a device,  and CBA also but without SMS you have to use their App and allow notifications to get authorisations.

I wasn't aware you could use an Aussie pre-paid sim over there, does it not chew the credit because of roaming etc? 

 

eta: Actually, could you not have called your Australian bank and get them to authorise a new payee over the phone? Instead of the rigmarole you went through? or is that where the form came in to play? 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Vickie78

[AliQ]

1 hour ago, Vickie78 said:

Ooops. 

Does your bank not allow international phone number or via the App? I know CBA and NAB do, NAB you can just let them know or you can turn off sms auth over the phone, if you won't have access to a device,  and CBA also but without SMS you have to use their App and allow notifications to get authorisations.

I wasn't aware you could use an Aussie pre-paid sim over there, does it not chew the credit because of roaming etc? 

 

eta: Actually, could you not have called your Australian bank and get them to authorise a new payee over the phone? Instead of the rigmarole you went through? or is that where the form came in to play? 

Hi Vickie78, I do have my UK mobile number registered as well with my bank, but SMS access codes will only be sent to Australian numbers (been told that is for security reasons) and I do use the bank's app most of the time too. Yes, my bank can turn off the SMS notifications, but then I can't do any money transfers , there is no other notification available for the transfers that I do. I bank with BW, and very happy with them too.

I ONLY use my Australian mobile to receive SMS bank access codes, so no, not using up much credit at all. Of my last top of $30, I only used about $3 only so it's a very cheap and easy way to keep my Australian number, and make life easier with online banking.

Good luck with your move.